Ruling Coalition to Consult with Democratic Party for the People on Policy
Following the recent Lower House election, the ruling coalition parties in Japan, led by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), will begin policy consultations with the Democratic Party for the People (DPP). This includes the possibility of incorporating the DPP's ideas into a planned package of economic measures.
Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary-general of the LDP, and his DPP counterpart, Kazuya Shinba, agreed to hold talks on the stimulus package, budget, and tax revisions for the next fiscal year. Officials from the junior coalition partner, Komeito, will also participate in the consultations.
Executives from Komeito and the DPP are scheduled to meet on November 1st. Additionally, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who is also the LDP president, and DPP leader Yuichiro Tamaki are expected to meet on November 9th.
The LDP-Komeito coalition gained only 215 seats in the recent election, falling short of a 233-seat majority. The DPP, on the other hand, increased its strength fourfold to 28 seats.
The coalition parties plan to compile a comprehensive package of economic measures next month and enact a supplementary budget to finance them. They will consider incorporating some of the DPP's campaign proposals, such as raising the minimum income subject to income tax and invoking a "trigger" clause to temporarily lower the gasoline tax, in order to secure the party's support for the supplementary budget.
The Ishiba administration hopes to form a "partial alliance" with the DPP to obtain its support on a broad range of issues, including bills. However, the DPP plans to discuss policies individually.
In the upcoming special Diet session, the two chambers will vote on who will be named prime minister. The DPP has reaffirmed its policy to cast ballots for Tamaki in both the first round and the expected run-off. This increases the prospects of Ishiba being named prime minister again, unless many LDP lawmakers abstain or vote for someone else.
Meanwhile, Yoshihiko Noda, president of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), has called on other opposition parties to vote for him as prime minister. He has discussed this with Nobuyuki Baba, leader of Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party), and Tomoko Tamura, chairwoman of the Japanese Communist Party. Baba has not revealed his party's stance, while Tamura said the JCP will positively consider the CDP's request for cooperation.
The DPP has stated that Tamaki will not meet with Noda because the party will vote for its own leader.