Former Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa said he will oppose any bills the Noda administration submits in the current Diet session to raise the sales tax, describing the planned hike as "unreasonable" and "unsuitable as an economic policy."
In an interview, the ruling DPJ kingpin also said Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda would find it hard to dissolve the Lower House and call a snap general election, hoping to win a public mandate for his plan to raise the sales levy.
Ozawa predicted that the electorate would not support the proposal, and said that "no politician can carry out (measures) the general public has rejected."