Japan LDP tries to steal opposition policy thunder
Saturday, 1 August 2009
TOKYO, July 31 (Reuters): Japan's main ruling party, facing possible defeat in an election next month, looked set to try to steal some of its opposition rival's policy thunder Friday with a pledge to boost household income and revive the economy.
Japanese media have said the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) would promise in a campaign platform to be unveiled later in the day to boost disposable household income on average by at least one million yen ($10,470) by 2020, and achieve economic growth of two per cent by the second half of the fiscal year from April 2010.
But the LDP is also expected to portray itself as the more fiscally responsible party, promising to repair the country's tattered public finances and, once the economy recovers, raise the five per cent sales tax to help fund the growing costs of a fast-aging society, media reports said.
Surveys show the LDP is at risk of losing to the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in an August 30 general election, ending more than half a century of almost unbroken reign by the business-friendly party.
While an opposition win in the August 30 vote would not mean a drastic shift in policies, it would raise the chances of breaking a stalemate in parliament, where the Democrats and smaller allies control the upper house and can delay bills.
The opposition Democrats have promised to put more money in the hands of consumers by such steps as providing child allowances, eliminating highway tolls and making gasoline cheaper to boost domestic demand.
"Our stance is the same. We must make individuals more prosperous to boost consumption," LDP Secretary-General Hiroyuki Hosoda told a TV programme.
That prompted a sharp rebuttal from his Democratic Party counterpart.
"It's not the same," said DPJ Secretary-General Katsuya Okada. "Budgets so far have been focused on organisations and industries to give money to the people indirectly ... We will give money directly to the Japanese people."
Some analysts said the LDP, which has harshly attacked the Democrats as being profligate on spending and fuzzy on funding, risked itself being criticised if it tries to echo the opposition focus on consumers.
"They are trying to do two things," said Koichi Nakano, a professor at Tokyo's Sophia University. "They are disparaging the Democrats ... as fiscally irresponsible. If they start to do something else because they are worried about the effectiveness of the DPJ campaign, they will look somewhat schizophrenic."
Robert Feldman, chief economist at Morgan Stanley in Tokyo, said the LDP-which has already backtracked on previous fiscal reform targets-needed to spell out details of how it would reduce the public debt, already nearly 170 per cent of GDP.
Japanese media have said the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) would promise in a campaign platform to be unveiled later in the day to boost disposable household income on average by at least one million yen ($10,470) by 2020, and achieve economic growth of two per cent by the second half of the fiscal year from April 2010.
But the LDP is also expected to portray itself as the more fiscally responsible party, promising to repair the country's tattered public finances and, once the economy recovers, raise the five per cent sales tax to help fund the growing costs of a fast-aging society, media reports said.
Surveys show the LDP is at risk of losing to the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in an August 30 general election, ending more than half a century of almost unbroken reign by the business-friendly party.
While an opposition win in the August 30 vote would not mean a drastic shift in policies, it would raise the chances of breaking a stalemate in parliament, where the Democrats and smaller allies control the upper house and can delay bills.
The opposition Democrats have promised to put more money in the hands of consumers by such steps as providing child allowances, eliminating highway tolls and making gasoline cheaper to boost domestic demand.
"Our stance is the same. We must make individuals more prosperous to boost consumption," LDP Secretary-General Hiroyuki Hosoda told a TV programme.
That prompted a sharp rebuttal from his Democratic Party counterpart.
"It's not the same," said DPJ Secretary-General Katsuya Okada. "Budgets so far have been focused on organisations and industries to give money to the people indirectly ... We will give money directly to the Japanese people."
Some analysts said the LDP, which has harshly attacked the Democrats as being profligate on spending and fuzzy on funding, risked itself being criticised if it tries to echo the opposition focus on consumers.
"They are trying to do two things," said Koichi Nakano, a professor at Tokyo's Sophia University. "They are disparaging the Democrats ... as fiscally irresponsible. If they start to do something else because they are worried about the effectiveness of the DPJ campaign, they will look somewhat schizophrenic."
Robert Feldman, chief economist at Morgan Stanley in Tokyo, said the LDP-which has already backtracked on previous fiscal reform targets-needed to spell out details of how it would reduce the public debt, already nearly 170 per cent of GDP.