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In a first, Lower House opposition parties unite to dismiss finance committee chair
The Lower House finance committee chairman was removed Wednesday after a united opposition front supported a dismissal motion in a bid to hurt the ruling coalition ahead of the upcoming Upper House election.
It is the first time ever that a motion against the head of a committee has cleared the Lower House — with a 237-221 vote — reflecting the vulnerabilities of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's minority government. A similar motion has been approved in the Upper House in the past.
Tatsunori Ibayashi, a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker, became the target of the dismissal motion for failing to allow deliberations on a bill to abolish the gasoline tax in the final stage of the parliamentary session. Yukihiko Akutsu, a Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker, was chosen to replace him in an election in the Lower House hours later with 238 votes. He is expected to kickstart the debate over the bill in the coming hours.
The motion came as it became less likely for the CDP to submit a no-confidence motion — a key arsenal for the opposition — against Ishiba, who reportedly threatened to dissolve the Lower House for a snap election if they did.
In the plenary session speech ahead of the voting to dismiss Ibayashi, CDP lawmaker Shuji Inatomi accused the ruling parties of failing to deliberate on the gasoline tax bill, saying they are neglecting the impact of rising prices on people's livelihoods.
'The coalition has taken a very passive stance on this issue, and it's hard to say any concrete discussions to abolish (the provisional gasoline tax rate) have taken place,' Inatomi said. 'The ruling parties have consistently avoided specifying a clear timeline for the abolition.'
The motion was submitted Tuesday by six parties — the CDP, Nippon Ishin no Kai, the Democratic Party for the People, Sanseito, the Conservative Party of Japan and the Social Democratic Party.
The parties protested Ibayashi's decision to prevent deliberations on an opposition-sponsored bill that would abolish a provisional gasoline tax rate from July 1. The bill — submitted by the six parties with the Japanese Communist Party last week — proposed scrapping two separate taxes often referred to simply as 'gasoline tax.'
Parliamentary committee chairpersons have authority over the deliberations in their respective committees.
The LDP, meanwhile, called the bill's submission 'unexpected' given the imminent closure of the parliamentary session and the absence of measures to deal with the expected fall of revenues.
The provisional tax rate was introduced in 1974, in the aftermath of the first oil shock, by the government of then-Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka to help pay to maintain roads. It was originally intended as a temporary measure but has stayed in place ever since. This fiscal year, the gasoline tax contributed ¥2.2 billion ($15.2 million) in revenue to state coffers.
In December, the LDP, Komeito and the opposition's DPP agreed to abolish the provisional gasoline tax, but when that would be implemented and how to fund it weren't discussed.
In April, the three parties signed an additional deal to temporarily lower gasoline prices.
The opposition is likely to tout Ibayashi's removal and its commitment to take concrete measures to eliminate the gasoline tax in the upcoming Upper House race.
