The Democratic Party of Japan endorsed a bill Wednesday to double the consumption tax to 10 percent by October 2015 after forcibly ending discussions dominated by party members critical of the DPJ leadership.
With the DPJ's stamp of approval, the administration is ready to officially endorse and submit the tax hike bill to the Diet on Friday.
Getting the bill passed is far from certain as the DPJ dissenters are furious that party leaders ended the internal discussions and threaten to vote no on the tax hike in the Diet.