Japan Press Weekly

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2007 December 19 - 2008 January 8 [POLITICS]

All parties except JCP received total of 408 billion yen of tax money over 13 years

At a time when many people were experiencing hardships due to the increasing economic burdens they were forced to endure and cutbacks in social services carried out under the name of “fiscal reconstruction”, all Japanese parties except the Japanese Communist Party received a total of 408 billion yen in government subsidies between 1995, when the government subsidy system was started, and 2007.

For FY 2008 starting on April 1st this year, the government budget plan, which was announced on December 24, calls for 31.9 billion yen to be spent on government subsidies to political parties.

Meanwhile, the government plans to abolish additional livelihood protection benefits amounting to estimated 18 billion yen for single parent welfare families with children under 15 years old in 3 years between FY 2007 to FY 2009. If part of the government subsidies to political parties is shifted to welfare programs, the additional benefits can be maintained.

On December 21, the bill to revise the Political Funds Control Law was enacted into law, but it does not require subsidy recipient parties to disclose how they spent the tax money.

All parties have so far been required to disclose items of spending of 50,000 yen or more.

Parties that have received government subsidies should disclose how they use them.