Prime Minister Shinzo Abe could still be leading the country in October 2019, the new date he set last week for increasing the consumption tax rate, according to Tomomi Inada, chairwoman of the Liberal Democratic Party's Policy Research Council.
While Abe's current term as party leader expires in September 2018, Inada said it is "quite possible" that he could still be the leader when the tax hike is scheduled to come into effect.
Appearing on a Fuji TV talk show Sunday, Inada was referring to the LDP rules that the party president's term is three years and that a president can serve two consecutive terms. However, the LDP has changed the rules in the past, including the length of the president's term.
Some LDP members suggested that by floating the idea, Inada is trying to pave the way for such a revision.
Inada stressed that the LDP will go through with increasing the consumption tax to 10 percent from the current 8 percent, "no matter who is prime minister."
Abe had vowed repeatedly that he would not delay the hike unless there was an economic shock on the scale of a major financial crisis or the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
Abe said last Wednesday that the risk of damaging domestic demand and long-term stagnation in global demand prompted him to delay the increase for as long as possible.
Inada said that the October 2019 date "absolutely cannot be extended" because it will arrive just before the ruling party's promise of achieving a primary budget balance in 2020 would run out.