Japan Press Weekly

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2024 June 19 - 25 [POLITICS]

Revised-political funds law with many loopholes approved

The revised-Political Funds Control Act, which fails to include effective measures such as a ban on donations from businesses and other interest groups to eradicate money-power politics, was enacted at a plenary session of the House of Councilors on June 19 with a majority vote of the Liberal Democratic and Komei parties.

The Japanese Communist Party and three other opposition parties, including the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, voted against the LDP-proposed revision which was put forth in reaction to the LDP slush-fund scandal.

Prior to the vote, JCP lawmaker Yamashita Yoshiki opposed the proposed revision, saying, “It is completely missing the key measure, the prohibition of political donations from corporations and organizations.” He pointed out that such donations are essentially bribes and that cases where the money has influenced government policies are too numerous to count.

Yamashita said, “It is impossible for the LDP, which does not even intend to uncover the whole picture behind its off-the-book fund allegations, to come up with a drastic solution to root out money-power corruption.”

He noted that the LDP proposal removes from the law the provision requiring the drawing up and publication of a summary of political funds reports, making it difficult to trace the flow of political funds back to the past. He criticized the LDP for making it harder for past corruption cases to be properly investigated.

Past related articles
> LDP rejects opposition parties’ demand to ban corporate donations [May 30, 2024]
> Opposition parties unite to ban donations from corporation and interest groups [May 29, 2024]