64.9 percent of Japanese reject Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s plan to raise taxes to finance a major increase in military spending, according to a poll published by the Kiodo news agency.
The poll also reveals that approval of Kishida’s government remains stable at 33.1 percent since last month, a figure that is the lowest since he began his job last year. The rate of rejection of the government’s work stands at 51.5 percent, also unchanged.
On Friday Kishida announced a new security strategy for Japan that includes an increase in military spending unprecedented since World War II in response to what they see as threats from China and North Korea. The plan also includes an increase in the corporate income tax and tobacco tax to finance this increase in defense spending.
The survey shows that 87.1 percent of respondents believe that Kishida has not adequately explained the tax hike plan and only 7.2 percent consider his explanations sufficient.
Kishida’s plan also envisions diverting part of the taxes earmarked for the 2011 earthquake and tsunami reconstruction plan to defense spending. 74.5 percent reject this proposal and 19.5 percent support it.
However, there is division over the acquisition of «counterattack capabilities» to be able to attack enemy territory in the event of aggression and thus increase Japan’s deterrence. Some 50.3 percent support this proposal and 42.6 percent reject it. Sixty-one percent of Japanese believe this capability could provoke tensions with neighboring countries and 33.9 percent believe it is of no concern.
The survey is based on 425 telephone interviews with calls to households of registered voters and 626 calls to cell phones.
Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party, which has traditionally dominated Japanese politics for decades, wants to push for a change to the pacifist Constitution to give the country a more capable military.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
