TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio demonstrated Wednesday his willingness to revise the Constitution while he is serving as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

“There is no change in my desire to realize (the amendment) during my term as president (of the LDP),” Kishida told a plenary meeting of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament.

Kishida rejected an opposition-proposed consumption tax cut to mitigate the impact of soaring prices, saying, “I’m not considering lowering the rate of the consumption tax, which is supposed to be the funding source for social security measures.”

He also refused to scrap the newly introduced invoice system, which is criticized for making small businesses and freelance workers pay more in consumption tax, claiming that it is “necessary to ensure the appropriateness of taxation under the multiple tax rates.”

Meanwhile, Kishida pledged efforts to submit a bill to the next ordinary Diet session at the earliest to prevent people with a record of sex offenses from getting jobs involving contact with children.

When urged to increase wages for nursing-care workers, he replied that he intends to build a system that can eventually improve their working environment and conditions.

Kishida also said his administration is getting ready to propose to the next ordinary Diet session, expected to start in January, a bill to introduce a clearance system for accessing classified information related to the country’s economic security.

As for how to ensure stable Imperial succession, he stressed that he will lead the LDP to have active discussions based on a report compiled by a government expert panel in December 2021.

JIJI Press