TOKYO - Senior officials of ruling and opposition parties engaged in an official TV debate on Oct. 17 for the launch of the Oct. 19 launch of the national campaign period for the House of Representative election, with the topics of debate ranging from COVID - 19 to economic policy.
The deputy Liberal Democrats Party and the ruling Komeito coalition partner LDP are highlighting their achievements over the past nine years since the launch of the second administration by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The opposition camp meanwhile is preparing a united front, with the main opposition Progressive Democratic Party of Japan CDP and Japanese Communist Party JCP ready to field a unified candidate in each single seat constituency. The focus will be on how much support each bloc can gain.
During the Oct. 17 program on public broadcaster NHK, LDP Secretary-General Amari Akira said the LDP was planning to move the economy using COVID 19 vaccine passports and certificates for negative coronavirus test results. Komeito's Keiichi Ishii, Amari's counterpart, also indicated that the government would resume its Go To Travel domestic tourism boosting campaign using the vaccine-negative test package.
Meanwhile, CDP Secretary-General Tetsuro Fukuyama argued that his party had been asking the Government since March to launch a new aid program for businesses hit hard by the pandemic, saying: The government and the ruling coalition are responsible for overlooking the CDP's proposal for half a year. He proposed a de facto income tax exemption for people making less than 10 million yen about $87,500 a year. JCP secretary-general Akira Koike called for stimulus money for those who have seen their income decline due to pandemic as well as for people in the middle class, based on a 100,000 - yen $875 cashout for each person.
Nobuyuki Baba, secretary-general of the conservative opposition Nippon Ishin no Kai Japan Innovation Party proposed removing the consumption tax rate from the current 10%, or 8% depending on the products or services purchased, to 5% for the time being. He added that the party would aim for zero pension insurance premiums to boost consumption. Having criticized the government's policy on business aid, Kohei Otsuka led the Democratic Party for the People, who said: Loans don't solve anything. Taxes and Social Insurance premiums should be reduced or there should be exemptions from payment, rather than extending deadlines. Minor opposition Taro Yamamoto leader Reiwa Shinsengumi insisted that the Japanese society would collapse unless the budget is raised by the 100 - trillion-yen about $875 billion level through government bonds. Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima appealed for injecting tax money into health care, nursing care, welfare, pension and education services. Takashi Tachibana, a former House of Councillors member and head of the anti-NHK party, said the best solution to boost the economy is to directly distribute e-money to consumers.
How government will be operated was also discussed in the first period of the program. If the JCP gains power in the general election then CDP will cooperate in a limited way as a non-partisan partner. Regarding this, the JCP's Amari pointed out that the LDP's stance was extremely negative on the Japan Self-Defense Forces and imperial system. Komeito's Ishii also criticized the CDP and JCP's move, saying, "I don't understand how they would be able to work with each other when their views regarding the challenges concerning the country’s fundamentals are different. The CDP's Fukuyama fired back, arguing that the LDP formed a coalition government with the now defunct Japan Socialist Party which had maintained that self-defense forces were unconstitutional. He continued, On security issues, our party holds the Japan-U. S. security arrangement as the core of our policies and we will create non-cooperative cooperation with JCP in a different, limited manner. The JCP's Koike explained that the party doesn't intend to bring its imperial policies or stance into the government operation, while also saying that it would maintain the original system.