Consumption tax cut passed by the House of Representatives on the 6th, ruling and opposition parties agree on Prime Minister Takaichi's attendance

On the 4th, Hideki Murai, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's country relations committee, met with Yuichi Goto, chairman of the country relations committee of the House of Representatives' moderate faction, in the Diet. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has agreed to attend the House of Representatives Finance and Finance Committee for one hour on the 6th to discuss the consumption tax reduction bill. The ruling party aims to pass the bill in the House of Representatives on the same day, and Murai proposed a schedule for voting in committees and plenary sessions on the same day. Goto deferred answering, saying, ``I will make a decision after listening to (the prime minister's) answer on the day.''

National Democratic Party postpones decision on consumption tax reduction bill

The Prime Minister's attendance at the committee has been strongly requested by the opposition parties. Mr. Goto requested a two-hour question-and-answer session with the prime minister, but the ruling party is seeking to keep it to a minimum. In the end, it was agreed that the prime minister would attend for an hour and only answer questions from the opposition parties.

Goto told reporters, ``I would like to have two hours, but there is a limit to the number of opposition parties at the moment.'' He pointed out that ``many points remain,'' pointing to the financial resources for tax cuts and the design of a system for subsidies to reduce the burden on workers linked to income. He expressed his intention to express his views to the prime minister.

Murai said, ``Looking at the content of the questions and answers, quite a few points were covered. Everything has been discussed,'' Murai said, indicating that the environment for a vote is now in place.