Noda drops five cabinet ministers to muster opposition support
TOKYO - In yet another bid to appease the opposition and win its support for proposed tax reforms, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in a cabinet reshuffle dropped five cabinet ministers who were being criticized for non-performance.
Announcing the second reshuffle this year, Noda called on the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to back tax legislations that would eventually double sales tax from 5 per cent currently and help the government raise more revenue to tackle Japan's debt mountain, currently twice its GDP.
The prime minister is also keen to use part of the additional resources raised for managing the social security costs of Japan's aging population.
"This reshuffle is to strengthen the cabinet and ensure that the government can make progress on several different policies, including tax and welfare reform," Noda said at a news conference.
"I cannot allow this bill to be defeated. I will do my best to make sure this bill gets passed."
The opposition however reacted indifferently to the cabinet reshuffle with LDP upper house secretary general Kensei Mizote stating that compromise on welfare reforms had nothing to do with Noda's decision to shake up his cabinet, according to Kyodo News.
Noda replaced the defense minister, Naoki Tanaka with Satoshi Morimoto, a conservative academic and well-known expert in security policy who has served in the Foreign Ministry and the air force.
Transport minister, Takeshi Maeda has been replaced with Yuichiro Hata, who previously served as the Democrats' head of parliamentary affairs in the upper house.
Tadahiro Matsushita, vice minister for reconstruction after a 2011 earthquake, is the new banking minister, replacing Shozaburo Jimi, who heads a small coalition partner but whose ability has been questioned in parliament.
The farm minister and the justice minister have also been replaced.
Facing dissent within his own party, Noda needs opposition help to push the bills through the lower and upper houses of parliament. Noda has pledged to ensure passage of the tax legislations during the current session of parliament ending on June 21.
Ichiro Ozawa, a powerbroker who leads around 100 lawmakers in Noda's own Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), has set his stall firmly against the tax rise, which he sees as politically unacceptable.
"Toward the end of the current parliamentary session, we will face a crucial decision that will affect the future of JapanI call for all the politicians, on both sides of the house, to take these proposals seriously," he said.
A meeting between Noda and Ozawa on Sunday failed to resolve the differences to help them reach a compromise.
The LDP has long tried to force Noda to call an early election by threatening to block the bills in parliament's upper house, which the opposition controls.
However, in the past weeks the LDP has indicated a compromise was possible if the ruling Democrats agreed to drop parts of the tax and social security reform that could lead to more spending.
Noda, who took office last September, is increasing efforts to narrow the gap with the opposition, and at the same time struggling to unite his own Democratic Party.
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