Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda survived a no-confidence vote on Thursday that was filed against his Cabinet by several of the smaller opposition parties. Six parties were trying to protest Noda and the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)’s bill that will increase Japan’s sales taxes from 5% to 10% over the next three years. The main opposition party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) had threatened over the weekend to do the same, as well as pull its support for the bill, but decided to withhold on that action for now.
The no-confidence motion was filed on Tuesday of this week in the parliament’s Lower House. Included in the six filing parties include the Japanese Communist Party, the New Renaissance Party, Your Party, and the People’s Life First Party, which was created by former DPJ president Ichiro Ozawa and roughly 50 former members who resigned in protest of the controversial tax bill. Luckily for Noda, the motion was debated at a House of Representatives session on Thursday, and ultimately dismissed by members from the DPJ and its coalition partner, the People’s New Party.
While the LDP and its ally the New Komeito party declined from voting, that doesn’t mean Prime Minister Noda is completely out of the woods yet. Their original basis for threatening to renege on the tax bill agreement was because Noda wasn’t living up to his promise to dissolve the Lower House for a general election. LDP officials say that if the prime minister doesn’t commit to his pledge soon, they will file their own no-confidence motion.
[via Business Recorder]