Japan Press Weekly

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2015 April 1 - 7 [POLITICS]

JCP submits bill to ban corporate political donations

The Japanese Communist Party on April 1 submitted a bill to ban all political donations from corporations and organizations, with the inappropriate handling of political funds that have recently come to light including the lately-exposed allegation involving cabinet ministers receiving money from state-subsidized firms.

The bill will also prohibit corporations and organizations from buying tickets to politicians’ fundraising parties because this can be constructed as political donations.

The JCP submitted this bill following a similar bill it submitted in January regarding the abolition of the system of government subsidies to political parties. The party says it will work to increase public awareness about this issue and ask other political parties to consider prohibiting corporate donations as they encourage the giving and receiving of what amounts in essence to bribes.

According to the 2013 political funds reports, politicians and political parties received a total of 8.76 billion yen in donations from corporations and organizations and earned 17.64 billion yen from political fundraising parties.

For every individual person, to make contributions to his/her favorite political party is the right to participate in politics as a sovereign member of the nation. In contrast, the JCP explains, political donations by for-profit companies who have no suffrage infringes upon people’s suffrage.

After the bill submission, JCP Chair Shii Kazuo held a press conference and said, “Donations from corporations and organizations remain up to today with two loopholes - donations to political party branches and political fundraising parties,” and stressed that his party will never stand by and allow loopholes leading to corrupt moneyed politics to go unchecked.

Shii also said that the country adopted the public funding system for political parties in 1995 in exchange for a promise to put an end to political donations from corporations and organizations, and pointed out that political parties continue double-dipping because such donations are still being made.

The JCP chairperson stated, “Only by removing the state funding system and corporate donations as one package can we get rid of the major contributors to political corruption.”

Past related article:
> JCP submits bill to abolish state subsidy for political parties [January 27, 2015]