Japan PM Kishida faces calls for election over defence tax hike

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida answers question to lawmaker Yasuhiko Funago, who has the neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), during a plenary session of the upper house of parliament in Tokyo on January 27, 2023. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI/ AFP)

TOKYO (Bloomberg): Japanese voters want an election before any hike in taxes to fund Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s (pic) plans for a record increase in defence spending and providing more support for families with children, according to two polls.

About 63% of respondents to a poll by the Nikkei newspaper carried out Jan 27-29 and 77% of those who took part in a survey by Kyodo News Jan 28-29 said Kishida should go to the people ahead of any increase in the tax burden.