EDITORIAL: Stalemate over road tax

The ruling and opposition camps have yet to start talks to break the Diet stalemate over gasoline and other tax surcharges for road construction even though less than a week remains before those and other special tax measures expire. The parliamentary clash between the ruling coalition and the opposition bloc led by Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) is only over revenues earmarked for building roads--a portion of the many special tax measures.

If the impasse continues, however, all these measures, including those concerning the registration of land transactions and international financial trading, will expire on March 31. The consequences will not be limited to falls in gasoline prices. Unless the situation is sorted out, tremendous confusion will result--not just among ordinary people but also those engaged in business activities. In the end, it will be the people who suffer.

How can this seriously complicated situation be untangled? The Liberal Democratic Party, the largest bloc in the Lower House, and Minshuto, which dominates the Upper House, share responsibility to end this deadlock. Now, the chiefs of the two parties should pluck up the courage to reach a political compromise. That would be the only way to preserve public trust in politics.

The concession Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda should make is to accept Minshuto's proposal to remove the controversial road-funding components from the government's bill, thereby maintaining the special tax measures to ensure their passage by the deadline. Since Minshuto intends to support the other measures that are not concerned with road tax, the revised bill could be enacted quickly.

But Fukuda is unable to make that concession because of his ruling coalition's Diet tactics. The ruling alliance says that if the Upper House approves Minshuto's proposal it will construe that as disapproval of the government bill and enact the bill immediately by ramming it through the Lower House a second time by a two-thirds majority, which constitutionally it is allowed to do.

But this would be a grossly distorted interpretation of the constitutional provision and one that defies common sense. The provision empowers the Lower House to override Upper House rejection of a bill by passing it a second time by a two-thirds majority. But such action by the ruling coalition would be an unreasonable reading of the provision.

Fukuda should promise not to invoke this provision. He should not regard Upper House approval of Minshuto's bill as the chamber's total rejection of the government bill. The ruling and opposition camps need to hold serious talks that involve the leaders of both Diet chambers.

Then, the ruling coalition should enact Minshuto's proposal swiftly.

If such a deal is struck, then Minshuto chief Ichiro Ozawa should make his own concessions. First, he should accept Fukuda's proposal of bipartisan talks over revisions to tax revenues earmarked for building roads. He should also agree immediately to the start of Upper House deliberations on the government's tax bill, which has not yet even reached the stage of explanation of its objectives by the submitter.

In doing so, Ozawa should pledge to honor the agreement with the ruling camp to solve the issue by the end of March, which was mediated by the heads of both houses.

The day after the governor's post at the Bank of Japan became vacant due to the opposition camp's refusal to confirm the government's nominee, Fukuda, in his e-mail newsletter, quoted the words of Osachi Hamaguchi, a prewar prime minister, vowing to "tread on the path of righteousness." Hamaguchi argued for a cutback in defense spending, refusing to give in to pressure from the military. By quoting his words, Fukuda appeared to be indicating his determination not to arbitrarily compromise with Minshuto.

But revelations of wasteful and pork-barrel spending financed by the earmarked tax revenues have continued to emerge. The path of righteousness should mean eliminating such dubious spending of taxpayers' money. Fukuda should make bold decisions without trying to save his face or worrying about reactions from LDP lawmakers lobbying in favor of the road construction industry.

An Asahi Shimbun survey found that nearly 60 percent of respondents support shifting earmarked tax receipts into the general revenue pot and oppose the government's bill. Fukuda should listen humbly to the voices of the people and make a more concrete proposal to Minshuto for an agreement on revisions to the bill.

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 26(IHT/Asahi: March 27,2008)