LDP Members Worry about 2-Yr Tax Cut's Impact on 2028 Poll

Tokyo, Aug. 3 (Jiji Press)--Liberal Democratic Party members are concerned that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's plan to cut the consumption tax rate on food could negatively affect the ruling party's performance in the 2028 House of Councillors election.

Under the plan, the consumption tax rate on food will be lowered to 1 pct for two years from next April. It would return to 8 pct within a year after the next Upper House election, likely making the tax hike a major campaign issue.

"Moving the consumption tax rate up and down will disrupt society. Such a thing should not be done," Upper House member Shoji Nishida said at Friday's meeting of the party's Tax System Research Commission. The opposition of Nishida, a prominent advocate of aggressive fiscal spending, to the party leader's policy highlights the growing sense of crisis among some party members.

On Thursday, Takaichi outlined the tax cut plan to LDP members. A medium-ranking Upper House lawmaker whose term will expire in 2028 voiced frustration, saying that opposition parties would campaign against the planned return of the tax rate to 8 pct and that the LDP would be unable to fight an election on a policy of restoring the tax rate.

The concern reflects a history in which consumption tax hikes have been a political minefield for the ruling parties.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]