CRA, CDPJ, Komeito Confirm They Will Join Social Security Council; Timing Remains Uncertain

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:20 JST, March 19, 2026

The leaders of the Centrist Reform Alliance, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito have confirmed that they will join the cross-party national council on social security.

However, it remains to be seen when they will start participating in the council, which was set up to discuss issues such as cutting the consumption tax on food.

CRA leader Junya Ogawa, CDPJ leader Shunichi Mizuoka and Komeito leader Toshiko Takeya held a meeting. Speaking to the press afterward, Ogawa said, “We would like to arrange to join the council, if various conditions are met.”

At the meeting, they agreed to demand that the ruling parties clarify several issues, including the timing with which the refundable tax credits would be implemented, the structure of the council’s secretariat and the disclosure of the minutes.

On the issue of lowering the consumption tax, there reportedly was a view that the decision should be left to the ruling parties, which hold an overwhelming majority in the House of Representatives.

“We are unified in strongly demanding the refundable tax credit scheme be given concrete shape,” Ogawa told reporters.

After the government and ruling coalition pushed through deliberations on the fiscal 2026 budget in the House of Representatives, the CRA reacted by skipping the inaugural meeting of the working-level group on March 12 and its second session on Wednesday.

However, with the budget having passed through the lower house on March 13, the CRA, which has no members in the House of Councillors, seeks to avoid missing out on the discussions. “We want to prepare to participate from next week,” said Mitsunari Okamoto, the chairperson of CRA’s Policy Research Council.

The CDPJ, for its part, intends to refrain from making a decision on joining the council until it has assessed conditions in the Diet and full-scale budget talks are underway in the upper house.

At a meeting of the three parties’ secretaries general on Tuesday, the CDPJ put the brakes on early participation in the council. While Komeito is eager to join soon, it is prioritizing coordinated action among the three parties.

The working-level group of the national council on social security, which meets once a week, will focus for the time being on holding hearings with relevant organizations to identify key issues surrounding a potential consumption tax cut.

A panel of experts will soon meet for the first time to lay the groundwork for the refundable tax credit scheme. Based on these findings, the working-level group will accelerate discussions on setting up a framework for the scheme, with the goal of releasing an interim report by summer.