Tokyo: Japanese ruling party executive Koichi Hagiuda on Sunday underscored the need to curb a rise in electricity rates in the country.

“Household electricity bills are rising about 20 pct, so we may need to reduce the size of the growth at least by about half,” Hagiuda, policy chief of the Liberal Democratic Party, said in a television program.

The government plans to include a new system to cushion the impact of surging electricity bills in its new comprehensive economic package seen to be drawn up late this month.

The LDP is expected to present its proposals in mid-October.

In the TV program, Akira Nagatsuma, policy head of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, said that the party will ask at the Diet, Japan’s parliament, about the advisability of seeking the liquidation of the controversial religious group known as the Unification Church based on the religious organization law.

Hagiuda sounded cautious, saying: “An order for dissolution should be based on a decision by judicial authorities. It would be difficult for the Diet to make such a decision immediately.”

Hagiuda indicated that it would be desirable to make rules on holding a state funeral after a thorough examination of the state funeral of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, held late last month.

JIJI Press