Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, said Thursday the party will join a recently launched suprapartisan national council on the consumption tax and other issues.
¡°We are the only party that can clearly point out the problems in the discussion,¡± Tamaki said at a party meeting where he explained the decision to join the panel. He reiterated the party¡¯s opposition to a cut in the consumption tax on food and called for other measures to mitigate tax burden.
Meanwhile, Junya Ogawa, head of the Centrist Reform Alliance, has also signaled openness to participating in the panel.
¡°We want to positively consider¡± joining the council, Ogawa said in a television program on Wednesday.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party, led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, have continued calling on the CRA and the DPP to join the national council after two opposition parties skipped its inaugural meeting held on Feb. 26.
Team Mirai is currently the only opposition party in the council, which discusses a proposal to exempt food items from the consumption tax for two years and social security-related issues.
The CRA, comprising only lawmakers in the House of Representatives, was established by the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) and Komeito, the LDP¡¯s former coalition partner, in January, ahead of the Feb. 8 Lower House election.
Also on Wednesday, the LDP asked the CDP, which now consists of lawmakers in the Upper House, to participate in the council.
The LDP has also called for the participation by Komeito, all of whose lawmakers are Upper House members.
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