Members of the Liberal Democratic Party, Komei and the Democratic Party of Japan in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly said March 18 that they will jointly oppose most ordinance bills submitted by the governor to raise charges for government facilities and services, including one for garbage collection fees for businesses.
The Japanese Communist Party will also oppose most of the bills, which means most of them are likely to be scrapped. Faced with a curtailed government budget, Gov. Yukio Aoshima asked the assembly to approve an increase in charges for 67 services and facilities to bring in total revenues of 7.8 billion yen for the next fiscal year.
The three parties cited the prolonged recession plaguing taxpayers as their reason for opposing the bills. If the bills presented by Gov. Aoshima are scrapped, it would be his first policy plan defeat. Some observers say it would be a severe blow to his preparations for re-election next year.