Japan Press Weekly

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2011 June 15 - 21 [POLITICS]

Local assembly in Nara calls for abolition of gov’t subsidies to political parties

The Koryo Town Assembly in Nara Prefecture on June 17, with a majority approval, passed a statement urging the government to abolish its subsidies to political parties and allocate the budget for subsidies to relieve the March 11 disaster victims.

Along with the Japanese Communist Party, a proponent of the statement, the Democratic Party and some conservative independents voted in favor, while the Komei Party opposed.

The statement points out that the political parties’ insistence on receiving both government subsidies and corporate and organizational donations make fools of the public, and that political parties’ reliance on tax money to cover a large part of their expenses is one of the causes of political apathy among the public.

The statement calls on the national government to announce the abolition of the government subsidies system to political parties, stating that it is “criminal” for political parties to accept government subsidies at a time when many victims are experiencing severe hardships.

The JCP has always called for discontinuing the system supporting political parties with tax money.