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A strange structure is likely to emerge in the Diet in which an opposition party will support Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba — the president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which suffered a crushing defeat in the latest House of Representatives election — and thereby prolong the life of his Cabinet.
As a result, a situation is also expected to arise in which the ruling parties accept the opposition party’s policy demands — even with no financial resources to pay for them — one after another.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan President Yoshihiko Noda and Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki held talks. Noda asked Tamaki to vote for him in the election to designate the prime minister in the special Diet session to be convened on Nov. 11, in the event of a runoff between Noda and Ishiba, but Tamaki did not respond to his request.
The DPFP intends to write Tamaki’s name in the election for the prime minister, even in the expected runoff vote. Since these votes will be invalid in a runoff election between the top two candidates, the number of votes for Noda will not reach those of Ishiba and there is a strong possibility that Ishiba will be elected prime minister again.
The DPFP plans to start policy-by-policy discussions with the ruling parties in the near future with the aim of realizing its election campaign pledges. For example, it aims to raise the ¥1.03 million threshold above which income tax is levied on annual incomes as a way to address “annual income barriers.”
The DPFP’s “policy-oriented” stance is understandable. However, it would be appropriate to seek the resignation of the prime minister and form a coalition, which would be jointly responsible also for finding financial resources, under a successor LDP president.
The DPFP will not do so probably because the party considers it advantageous to itself to help Ishiba, who has lost credibility, prolong his Cabinet.
Noda has expressed his willingness to cooperate with Tamaki on the review of annual income barriers. The DPFP seems to think it has the deciding vote and holds the fate of the minority ruling parties in its hands. However, if the CDPJ engages in policy discussions with the ruling parties, the DPFP’s presence will diminish.
Noda also asked Nobuyuki Baba, representative of the Japan Innovation Party, for his cooperation in the election for the prime minister, but Baba declined to give an immediate answer. The JIP also intends to write Baba’s name in the runoff election.
In a highly likely runoff election, if the JIP and the DPFP vote for neither Ishiba nor Noda, they should cast blank ballots or abstain from voting.
The CDPJ, too, is to blame for opposition parties not taking concerted action.
Although Noda did not especially focus on the party’s longstanding policy in favor of “a zero nuclear energy dependent society” during the lower house election campaign, the party platform still includes that very phrase.
If the CDPJ wants to unite the opposition parties, it must first change its basic policies to ones with realistic content.
The special Diet session is expected to last only four days. The Budget Committee meetings are planned to be held at the next Diet session.
During the most recent extraordinary Diet session, Ishiba reversed the statement he made during the LDP presidential election campaign that the Budget Committee meetings would be held in that session, and dissolved the lower house early. When on earth will he begin to face domestic and foreign issues and start to debate them?
