August 17, 2011
Executives of electric companies are giving donations to the Liberal Democratic Party while their unions are using their political bodies to fund the Democratic Party of Japan. Akahata has revealed this dual structure of political support involving both labor and management sides of nuclear power plant operators.
Unions to DPJ
From 2007 to 2009, a political body of the Federation of Electric Power Related Industry Workers’ Unions of Japan (Denryoku Soren) gave at least 91 million yen to the DPJ’s headquarters and its 13 Dietmembers.
According to political funds report of Denryoku Soren’s body, the 13 lawmakers include Kobayashi Masao (40 million yen), former vice chair of the labor union of the Tokyo Electric Power Company, as well as Fujiwara Masashi (33 million yen), former Secretary-General, Kansai Electric Power Co. Trade Union.
Backed by Denryoku Soren, those two DPJ lawmakers won seats in the House of Councilors elections.
Fujiwara expressed his concerns on his website regarding the government order to suspend the operation of the Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture following the accident at the Fukushima plant.
Executives to LDP
More than 60 percent of individual donations that the LDP political fund-managing body received in 2009 came from executives of electric power companies, including TEPCO.
The power industry used to be one of the three major industries, along with steel and finance, that had provided enormous amounts of political donations to the LDP. The industry, however, stopped making corporate donations in 1974 after the oil shock in order to dodge public criticism of an increase in electricity rates.
Currently, the utilities’ executives give the LDP cash in the form of personal donations in which the amount is fixed in accordance to their post. Each company thus in reality continues providing corporate donations in the form of personal contributions.
According to Akahata, 47 TEPCO executives gave a total of about 5.7 million yen in donations in 2009. Looking at the nine power firms together, 206 present and retired executives provided about 27.9 million yen in personal donations to the LDP’s political fund-managing organization.
Its political funds report shows that personal contributions from 364 business leaders totaled about 43.3 million yen, and that Canon President Mitarai Fujio, Emeritus President of Toyota Motor Toyoda Shoichiro, and Nippon Steel President Muneoka Shoji gave 300,000 yen each.
Out of individual donors to the LDP’s fund-raising body, 56.6 percent were utility company officials, accounting for 64.5 percent of the total sum of the LDP’s personal donations received in 2009.
Unions to DPJ
From 2007 to 2009, a political body of the Federation of Electric Power Related Industry Workers’ Unions of Japan (Denryoku Soren) gave at least 91 million yen to the DPJ’s headquarters and its 13 Dietmembers.
According to political funds report of Denryoku Soren’s body, the 13 lawmakers include Kobayashi Masao (40 million yen), former vice chair of the labor union of the Tokyo Electric Power Company, as well as Fujiwara Masashi (33 million yen), former Secretary-General, Kansai Electric Power Co. Trade Union.
Backed by Denryoku Soren, those two DPJ lawmakers won seats in the House of Councilors elections.
Fujiwara expressed his concerns on his website regarding the government order to suspend the operation of the Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture following the accident at the Fukushima plant.
Executives to LDP
More than 60 percent of individual donations that the LDP political fund-managing body received in 2009 came from executives of electric power companies, including TEPCO.
The power industry used to be one of the three major industries, along with steel and finance, that had provided enormous amounts of political donations to the LDP. The industry, however, stopped making corporate donations in 1974 after the oil shock in order to dodge public criticism of an increase in electricity rates.
Currently, the utilities’ executives give the LDP cash in the form of personal donations in which the amount is fixed in accordance to their post. Each company thus in reality continues providing corporate donations in the form of personal contributions.
According to Akahata, 47 TEPCO executives gave a total of about 5.7 million yen in donations in 2009. Looking at the nine power firms together, 206 present and retired executives provided about 27.9 million yen in personal donations to the LDP’s political fund-managing organization.
Its political funds report shows that personal contributions from 364 business leaders totaled about 43.3 million yen, and that Canon President Mitarai Fujio, Emeritus President of Toyota Motor Toyoda Shoichiro, and Nippon Steel President Muneoka Shoji gave 300,000 yen each.
Out of individual donors to the LDP’s fund-raising body, 56.6 percent were utility company officials, accounting for 64.5 percent of the total sum of the LDP’s personal donations received in 2009.
