Japanese Opposition DPFP Not to Join Ruling Bloc for Now

Tokyo, Aug. 3 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese opposition Democratic Party for the People plans to refrain from joining the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party for the time being. Some in the LDP sought to realize the DPFP’s participation in the coalition before an extraordinary session of the Diet, or parliament, is convened possibly this autumn. But a decision by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, also LDP president, to reduce the consumption tax rate to 1 pct from 8 pct for food for two years from April 2027 caused the DPFP to take a tougher line. “It is difficult (for the DPFP and the ruling side) to reach an accord on basic policies,” DPFP leader Yuichiro Tamaki told reporters Thursday, when Takaichi formally announced the tax cut plan as an anti-inflation measure. Tamaki thus suggested that a prerequisite for cooperation, including his party’s possible participation in the ruling coalition, is not in place. With the ruling camp lacking a majority in the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, the LDP had hoped that the DPFP, whose policies are relatively close to those of the LDP, would join the coalition. Some DPFP members had been positive, with a young member saying, “If we join the coalition, now is the time.” The Takaichi-proposed consumption tax reduction impeded the DPFP’s participation, however. Tamaki criticized the prime minister’s policy, saying that middle-income people and others would effectively face a large tax increase after the end of the tax cut period. Takaichi has vowed to raise the food consumption tax rate back to 8 pct after two years. In talks with reporters in the western Japan city of Wakayama on Saturday, Tamaki also said that the proposed consumption tax reduction would have adverse impacts on dining industries and farmers. When he dined with LDP Vice President Taro Aso, who is positive about the DPFP joining the ruling camp, in late June, Tamaki expressed his party’s opposition to a consumption tax reduction. But the prime minister’s side dug in its heels, leading to the DPFP hardening its attitude. The government plans to submit a bill for the tax reduction to the envisaged extraordinary Diet session. But a senior DPFP official said: “We cannot support a bill that would lead to a tax hike in two years. We cannot take responsibility.” “Joining the coalition would be impossible for us if the ruling bloc keeps going with the tax cut plan,” the official added. DPFP executives, including Tamaki and Secretary-General Kazuya Shinba, are in agreement that the party’s participation in the ruling coalition is difficult, according to the official. The DPFP has argued for a combination of early cash benefit payments and resident tax cuts from fiscal 2027, planning to submit related legislation to the extraordinary Diet session as a counterproposal to the government’s consumption tax cut bill. “We should not share the same fate with the Takaichi administration,” a DPFP source said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]