Japan Parties Apart over Political Donation Reform Bills

Tokyo, Dec. 5 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s ruling and opposition parties remained apart during Thursday’s parliamentary deliberations on bills related to the reform of political donations from companies and other organizations. At a meeting of the political reform special committee of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party called for strengthening the disclosure of information regarding donations. Meanwhile, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan expressed support for a bill allowing only the headquarters and prefectural chapters of political parties to receive donations from corporations and other organizations. The bill was submitted to the Diet jointly by the opposition Democratic Party for the People and Komeito, the LDP’s former coalition partner and now in the opposition camp. Two other bills are being debated at the special committee. One of the two, presented by the LDP, obliges political party branches that receive such donations to submit political funds reports online. The remaining bill, submitted jointly by the LDP and its new coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, also known as Nippon Ishin no Kai, calls for setting up a third-party committee at the Diet for discussions to explore an appropriate way to regulate donations from companies and other organizations, and for reaching a conclusion by September 2027. LDP lawmaker Junji Hasegawa said, “Making donations is guaranteed under the Constitution as part of political activities (of companies and other organizations),” insisting that such donations should not be banned. “What is important is to seek constant monitoring and scrutiny by the public,” he said, underscoring the need for stepped-up information disclosure. Takayuki Ochiai of the CDP welcomed the DPFP-Komeito bill, saying, “It is a first step for banning donations (from companies and other organizations).” With the LDP-JIP ruling bloc set to submit a bill related to their plan to cut the number of Lower House seats, Ochiai said, “If (the political donation bills) are put on the back burner, the JIP would end up destroying what we have built up just before the results are obtained.” JIP lawmaker Kei Hagihara called on opposition parties to support the LDP-JIP bill, saying, “I think that creating rules (on political donations) through discussions by a third-party committee is an approach that both the ruling and opposition sides can agree on.” DPFP member Motohisa Furukawa criticized the LDP bill, saying, “It’s not enough to dispel public distrust (of politics).” Komeito’s Hiromasa Nakano said that the LDP-JIP bill is “totally unacceptable because it significantly pushes back the reform of political funds.” Takashi Takai of opposition Reiwa Shinsengumi denounced the LDP-JIP plan to reduce Lower House seats as an attempt to disregard discussions on the reform of political donations. Tetsuya Shiokawa of the Japanese Communist Party, another opposition party, voiced opposition to the LDP and DPFP-Komeito bills. He also criticized the LDP-JIP bill, saying that it amounts to shifting the legislature’s responsibility to a third-party committee. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]