Now that Prime Minister Taro Aso managed Tuesday to force the second extra budget for fiscal 2008 through the Lower House, his next hurdle is the fiscal 2009 budget and related bills.
He is not going to find easy sailing, because the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is sharply divided on whether to raise the 5 percent consumption tax in three years and its solidarity is now very shaky.
On Christmas Eve, the government and LDP-New Komeito ruling coalition officially authorized a midterm tax reform program to increase the consumption tax in fiscal 2011, providing the economy improves. The government plans to include the program as an additional clause in the tax reform bill for fiscal 2009.