3 Japan Opposition Parties to Join National Council Wed.

Tokyo, March 24 (Jiji Press)--The Centrist Reform Alliance, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito, all opposition parties, agreed Tuesday to join on Wednesday a recently launched suprapartisan forum to discuss consumption tax reductions and measures related to social security.

The three parties are placing top priority on introducing a refundable tax credit system.

The ruling coalition of Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party as well as the opposition parties, however, are hesitant to discuss financial resources to compensate for a proposed consumption tax reduction.

The National Council on Social Security is scheduled to hold working-level talks Wednesday.

The decision to join the council was made as the government has started work on putting together a stopgap budget, as demanded by the opposition camp, Centrist Reform Alliance Secretary-General Takeshi Shina told reporters after meeting with his counterparts and other officials from the CDP and Komeito.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]