Tokyo, Nov. 8 (Jiji Press)–The leadership of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has sent letters to four party lawmakers, including former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, asking them to explain their abstention from a vote on a consumption tax cut bill on Friday, a senior party official said Sunday. They have been asked to respond by noon on Monday. Based on their explanations, the party leadership will consider how to deal with the matter, including possible disciplinary action, the official said. The four are Ishiba, former LDP Election Strategy Committee chair Yuko Obuchi, former Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa and Hajime Funada, former chief of the now-defunct Economic Planning Agency. The official told reporters that the matter “cannot be overlooked from the standpoint of party discipline.” The LDP had instructed its House of Representatives members not to leave the lower chamber of Japan’s parliament until the end of Friday’s plenary session. The four lawmakers abstained from the vote after leaving the Lower House plenary session before it ended. During the session, the government-submitted bill to cut the consumption tax on food and beverage items was put to a vote and was approved by a majority vote. Speaking to reporters in Niigata Prefecture, central Japan, on Sunday, LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Takayuki Kobayashi said the party is working to establish the facts within a set time frame. “This is an issue that the party must deal with appropriately,” he said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
