Japan's opposition DPP pledges lower taxes and higher take-home pay
The opposition Democratic Party for the People on Tuesday announced its campaign promises for this summer's election of the House of Councilors, the upper chamber of Japan's parliament, with the focus primarily on boosting people's take-home pay through tax cuts.
The party promised a temporary reduction in the consumption tax rate to 5% from the current 10%, the abolition of the provisional gasoline tax surcharge and an increase in the minimum annual taxable income level to ¥1.78 million.
"Through wage hikes and the return to the people of national tax revenues that increased due to the yen's weakening, we'll aim to realize 'a summer of increased take-home pay,'" the party said.
The DPP emphasized support for young people and the working generation, proposing to double the budget for child-rearing and education by issuing what the party calls "education government bonds" worth ¥5 trillion annually. It also pledged to reduce income tax for people up to the age of 30 who started working after finishing junior high or high school.
The party aims to achieve nominal gross domestic product of ¥1,000 trillion in 2035 through investment tax cuts in growth sectors such as semiconductors and storage batteries, along with measures to stimulate consumption. If successful, tax revenues would rise to ¥120 trillion, significantly improving the government's finances, it explained.
Regarding agriculture, the party said it would introduce a direct payment system for farmers in order to increase the production of staple rice.
On security policy, it promised to enact a law to prevent espionage and a law to regulate land acquisition by foreign nationals.
The party also called for rebuilding or newly building nuclear power plants and promoting the research and development of nuclear fusion technology, saying that the country should aim to achieve an energy self-sufficiency rate of 50%.
Elsewhere in its campaign pledges, the DPP reiterated its support for a selective dual surname system for married couples.
On imperial succession, the party called for continued discussions on the idea of allowing female members to retain their imperial family status even after marrying commoners and on the proposal of adopting as children male members in the paternal line of former imperial family branches to give them imperial family status. It also sought to consider a plan to allow male members in the paternal line of former imperial family branches to directly become imperial family members by law, without going through the process of adoption.
DPP leader Yuichiro Tamaki told a news conference that the party had also called for boosting people's take-home pay in last year's election for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, but has not been able to fulfill the promise due to a lack of strength on its part.
He added, "We would like to increase the number of our seats in the Upper House through the coming election and improve our ability to realize our policies."
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