Japan Press Weekly

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2011 November 30 - December 6 [POLITICS]

DPJ and LDP received 600 million yen from nuclear industry on top of depending heavily on gov’t subsidies

Headquarters of the Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Democratic Party are depending on government subsidies funded by tax revenues for 82.2% and 67.4% of their annual incomes, respectively.

These parties easily managed their finances, while shouting, “Lawmakers should also share in the burdens!”

According to the 2010 political funds reports published on November 30, the DPJ received 17 billion yen in government subsidies, up about 3.4 billion yen from the previous year. The government subsidy to the LDP was 10.3 billion yen, about 3.7 billion yen less than the amount the party received the year earlier.

The system of government subsidies to political parties came into effect under the pretext of eliminating political donations from organizations and corporations. However, the two parties and their politicians in 2010 received about 600 million yen in total in corporate and organizational donations from the nuclear industry alone.

The Japanese Communist Party has refused to accept the government funding, arguing that it is in violation of constitutional freedom of thought and belief. The JCP has funded itself independently from membership dues, donations from individuals, and sales of publications including the daily and weekly Akahata newspaper.