Sanae Takaichi, one of the leading candidates to become the next head of Japan’s ruling party, yesterday said that she would roll out tax benefits and make cash payouts to households if she wins the party’s Oct. 4 leadership election.
“I stand here with high aspirations to once again put Japan at the top of the world,” Takaichi said. “The key is economic strength, and I will pursue economic growth to the fullest extent I can.”
Takaichi, a staunch conservative who narrowly lost to outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in a leadership contest about a year ago, said she would raise the threshold for untaxed income and eliminate gasoline taxes if elected head of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
Photo: Reuters
Takaichi comes from the right wing of the LDP and has long been an advocate of aggressive economic stimulus to boost growth. If she wins the leadership contest, Takaichi would have a strong chance of becoming Japan’s first female prime minister, a position that is decided by a parliamentary vote.
Takaichi, who once served as minister of state for economic security, is one of the front-runners in the race alongside Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Shinjiro Koizumi, a reform proponent who is the son of former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Ishiba said that he would step down after the LDP-led ruling coalition lost its majorities in both houses of parliament.
A Jiji News poll conducted on Friday last week to Monday showed that 19.7 percent of those polled who were also LDP supporters thought Takaichi was the most suitable candidate to lead the party.
She came second in the survey, behind Koizumi at 31.8 percent.
Takaichi released her agenda about two hours after the Bank of Japan’s board voted to hold its benchmark interest rate steady. In running for the leadership role a year ago, Takaichi advised against interest rate hikes. Her statement did not touch on monetary policy, and the topic had not come up 40 minutes into her news conference.
Other candidates in the LDP election race include former Japanese minister of foreign affairs Toshimitsu Motegi, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi and Japanese Representative Takayuki Kobayashi.
Takaichi has cited former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher as a key inspiration, and her leadership would likely swing the country toward conservatism on a political level.
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