Japan Press Weekly

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2015 November 25 - December 1 [POLITICS]

LDP increasingly turns into ‘state-run’ political party

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s dependence on taxpayer money has been increasing.

The 2014 Political Funding Report shows that the percentage of membership dues in the total income of the LDP headquarters dropped from 13.2% (3.1 billion yen) in 1995 to 3.4% (800 million yen) in 2014. In 1995, the Political Party Grant System was introduced.

Meanwhile, the proportion of granted party subsidies in that total income increased from 56.7% (13.4 billion yen) in 1995 to 67.4% (15.8 billion yen) in 2014.

The percentage of individual contributions to the LDP stood at 1.5% in 2014, almost unchanged from 1.2% in 1995.

The party subsidy system annually levies a tax of 250 yen on each resident in Japan and divides the collected money totaling about 32 billion yen among political parties. The Japanese Communist Party has consistently refused to receive the subsidies, arguing that it infringes upon people’s freedom of thought and beliefs which is guaranteed under the Japanese Constitution.

Over the last two decades, the subsidies amounting to 631.1 billion yen were distributed to 43 political parties. Of them, 34 have already disbanded or merged into other political groups. It is clear that this grant system is helping to corrupt political parties in Japan.

Past related articles:
> Political parties except JCP accumulate 13 billion yen from public subsidies [September 26, 2015]
> JCP submits bill to abolish state subsidy for political parties [January 27, 2015]