October 28 , 2010
The Democratic Party of Japan on October 26 announced that it will accept political donations from corporations and other political interest organizations, which the party had suspended since the change of government in September 2009.
Japanese Communist Party Diet Policy Commission Chair Kokuta Keiji at a news conference on October 27 criticized the DPJ decision, saying “It is a breach of the DPJ’s public promise to ban corporate donations and also a contradiction to what it was calling for.”
Kokuta pointed out that the DPJ Manifestos for the last year’s Lower House general election and for the Upper House election this year clearly call for a ban on political donations from corporations and their purchase of tickets for fund-raising gatherings. He referred to the DPJ jointly submitting to the Diet a bill to ban donations from corporations that receive contracts for public works projects, together with the Japanese Communist Party, the Liberal Party, and the Social Democratic Party, when the DPJ was an opposition party. Kokuta recalled that a DPJ Dietmember in explaining the bill in July 2003 said, “Political donations from corporations receiving public works contracts amount to kickbacks and could thereby breed collusive relations within the political, bureaucratic, and business worlds.” Kokuta criticized the latest DPJ decision as a serious turnabout from its professed policy.
Kokuta further criticized DPJ Vice General Secretary Edano Yukio’s explanation that the decision to resume accepting donations is based on anxiety about the excessive dependence of the party on state funds. He said, “To end government subsidies to political parties is the way to avoid the excessive dependence on state funds. Lifting the self-imposed ban on corporate donations bares the DPJ intention to secure two channels of funding.”
Kokuta also criticized a statement by Yonekura Hiromasa, president of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), justifying political donations from individuals and corporations as way for them to assume their social responsibility. Kokuta stressed, “Corporations should take social responsibility by fulfilling what they should do in regard to job creation, benefitting local communities, and protecting the environment. Buying political influence through corporate donations is not related to social responsibility.”
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Asked for a comment on the donation issue at a news conference on October 27, Prime Minister Kan Naoto answered that resuming accepting donations does not violate the DPJ Manifesto stating that a ban on corporate donations will take effect in three years after the related law is revised.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Sengoku Yoshito at a press conference on the same day commented that re-starting the acceptance of donations from corporations and organizations is a temporary policy within the bounds of public promises, but he expressed concern that it could be negative in winning the public trust amid media reports on scandals over money corruption in politics.
Foreign Minister Maehara Seiji in a Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee meeting said that the public would take a negative message from the decision, as the DPJ had previously decided to submit a bill to ban donations altogether.
-Akahata, October 28, 2010
Kokuta pointed out that the DPJ Manifestos for the last year’s Lower House general election and for the Upper House election this year clearly call for a ban on political donations from corporations and their purchase of tickets for fund-raising gatherings. He referred to the DPJ jointly submitting to the Diet a bill to ban donations from corporations that receive contracts for public works projects, together with the Japanese Communist Party, the Liberal Party, and the Social Democratic Party, when the DPJ was an opposition party. Kokuta recalled that a DPJ Dietmember in explaining the bill in July 2003 said, “Political donations from corporations receiving public works contracts amount to kickbacks and could thereby breed collusive relations within the political, bureaucratic, and business worlds.” Kokuta criticized the latest DPJ decision as a serious turnabout from its professed policy.
Kokuta further criticized DPJ Vice General Secretary Edano Yukio’s explanation that the decision to resume accepting donations is based on anxiety about the excessive dependence of the party on state funds. He said, “To end government subsidies to political parties is the way to avoid the excessive dependence on state funds. Lifting the self-imposed ban on corporate donations bares the DPJ intention to secure two channels of funding.”
Kokuta also criticized a statement by Yonekura Hiromasa, president of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), justifying political donations from individuals and corporations as way for them to assume their social responsibility. Kokuta stressed, “Corporations should take social responsibility by fulfilling what they should do in regard to job creation, benefitting local communities, and protecting the environment. Buying political influence through corporate donations is not related to social responsibility.”
* * *
Asked for a comment on the donation issue at a news conference on October 27, Prime Minister Kan Naoto answered that resuming accepting donations does not violate the DPJ Manifesto stating that a ban on corporate donations will take effect in three years after the related law is revised.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Sengoku Yoshito at a press conference on the same day commented that re-starting the acceptance of donations from corporations and organizations is a temporary policy within the bounds of public promises, but he expressed concern that it could be negative in winning the public trust amid media reports on scandals over money corruption in politics.
Foreign Minister Maehara Seiji in a Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee meeting said that the public would take a negative message from the decision, as the DPJ had previously decided to submit a bill to ban donations altogether.
-Akahata, October 28, 2010
