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Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Absurdity of LDP call for lifting ban on donations from foreign firms
Akahata editorial (excerpts)

The Liberal Democratic Party will submit to the current Diet a bill to amend the Political Funds Control Law to lift the ban on the acceptance of political donations from foreign-affiliated corporations in Japan.

This "deregulation" will increase political donations from corporations and other organizations and further political corruption. Such an attempt must be thwarted by all means.

The Political Funds Control Law bans political donations from foreigners or foreign organizations in order to prevent them from interfering with Japan's politics and elections.

The Law bans political parties from receiving donations from not only foreigners and foreign corporations but also "corporations and organizations chiefly composed of foreigners or foreign corporations." Under this provision, if foreigners or foreign corporations hold a more than 50% stake in a company, that company cannot make political donations in Japan, according to the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications.

The LDP is calling for this restriction to be removed so that foreign corporations headquartered in Japan and officially listed in Japan can make political donation in Japan.

The Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) in December 2005 appointed Canon president Mitarai Fujio as the next Nippon Keidanren chairman. When this decision became an issue because Canon's majority share holders are foreigners, Mitarai called for the law to be changed.

In Japan, contributions by corporations and other organizations have been a major source of political corruption. To begin with, a political donation is a means of participating in politics by the people as sovereign. No corporations have sovereign power and should refrain from exercising this right, not to mention foreign corporations.

However, Nippon Keidanren in 2003 resumed arranging its members' donations to the LDP and the Democratic Party to buy political favors.

Pursuing a pro-business economic policy, the Koizumi Cabinet has pushed head with deregulation as panacea relying on market forces to ensure that major corporations can maximize profits, using the government Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy to directly control Japan's politics with money.

Undemocratic political donations by corporations and corporate-funded organizations must be banned immediately.
- Akahata, March 17, 2006