Japan Press Weekly

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2024 October 2 - 8 [POLITICS]

PM Ishiba received 1.75 billion yen in policy activity funds when he was LDP secretary general

Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru will be watched closely by voters to see if he will make public how the 1.75 billion yen in “policy activity funds” he received during his 2-year tenure as LDP secretary general was actually used.

Ishiba has stated that he would “clarify as much as possible” about how the money was used when he spoke to reporters in the Diet building on September 5 and on an NHK debate program on September 29.

Policy activity expenses are political funds disbursed by political parties to cover their individual lawmakers’ political activities. Disclosure of the names of politicians who received the funds is all that is required, and what the money was used for is a “black box”. As those who receive policy activity expenses do not have to disclose how they use them, the money has been criticized as a “hotbed of slush funds”.

Ishiba served as LDP secretary general between late September 2012 and early September 2014 under the Abe government. Policy activity expenses given to Ishiba tended to increase prior to national elections. Before the Lower House election in December 2012 when the LDP returned to power, 260 million yen was given to Ishiba, and 760 million yen was spent on him before the Upper House election in July 2013.

Akahata asked Ishiba’s office whether he intends to clarify the use of the money, but has received no response to date.