Yuko Obuchi, a former economy minister, said she was asked to step down as deputy chair of the Liberal Democratic Party's tax research commission after abstaining on the consumption tax cut bill, a test of whether dissent on the cabinet's flagship policy is tolerable inside the ruling party.
Obuchi told reporters at party headquarters on the 10th that she had offered to be dismissed outright rather than resign. "If I am not needed as deputy chair, then I told the chairman of the tax commission, who makes the appointment, to fire me," she said, Nikkan Sports reported.
The removal is effectively a dismissal. Obuchi abstained in the House of Representatives vote on the bill, which carries party discipline, and the tax commission is chaired by Itsunori Onodera.
A refusal to resign quietly
Earlier in the day, Obuchi said, she was summoned by Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki and others, who asked her to resign the deputy chairmanship voluntarily. She refused.
"I have been involved in the tax commission for a long time and I believe I have fulfilled my role in my own way," she said. She added that she had spoken about public concerns over the consumption tax and about the need to secure funding.
"For my part, I could not resign as deputy chair on my own," she said.
After the lower house plenary session, Onodera called her in and told her that serving as an officer was inappropriate given her abstention, she said. She accepted.
“If I am not needed as deputy chair, then I told the chairman of the tax commission, who makes the appointment, to fire me.”Yuko Obuchi, former economy minister
Abstention was deliberate
She argued the tax commission should weigh tax increases alongside cuts to secure funding. "It may be fine for not everyone to face the same direction and say the same 'yes'," she said, citing lawmakers who oppose measures or prioritize fiscal health.
Obuchi is known as a fiscal disciplinarian and had questioned the consumption tax cut plan. In July she resigned a senior post on the tax commission's inner leadership group, causing a stir, but kept the deputy chairmanship.
She said she had not been asked to give up other party posts and intended to keep working in them.