Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2015 November 25 - December 1 [JCP]

Unlike LDP, JCP finance supported at grassroots level

Japanese Communist Party Finance and Management Commission Chair Iwai Tetsuya on November 27 issued a statement outlining JCP’s financial activities in relation with political parties’ financial report for 2014 that were published by the Internal Affairs Ministry on the same day.

In the statement, Iwai explained that the JCP Central Committee in 2014 had a total income of 22.48 billion yen (down by 0.3% from 2013) and a total expenditure of 22.45 billion yen (up by 0.3% from 2013). He said that the JCP finances itself through party dues, the sale of its organ papers and books, and donations from private individuals.

Iwai noted that business activities such as the publication of Akahata and various journals and magazines accounted for 86.6% of revenues and 61.5% of expenditures. This clearly shows that the JCP is connected with the general public at the grassroots level through its activities centering on Akahata.

Pointing out that the JCP refuses to accept government subsidies and corporate and organizational donations, Iwai said that the system of funding political parties with taxpayers’ money violates the constitutional right to the freedom of thought and creed. He also criticized donations from corporations and organizations as a form of bribery. Iwai pointed out that the state subsidy system and corporate and organizational donations are main factors contributing to political corruption, and said that the JCP submitted to the Diet bills to remove those factors.

**********

The 2014 Political Fund Reports that the Internal Affairs Ministry released on November 27 show that the Liberal Democratic Party increased the amount of donations from corporations benefitting from PM Abe’s pro-corporate economic policies and pro-military policies.

In 2014, the LDP’s political fund organization received from corporations 2.7 billion yen in donations, up by 250 million yen. Top ranking donators include Japan’s leading manufacturers and exporters such as Toyota, Canon, and Toray, all of which are beneficiary of “Abenomics”. Of the 2.7 billion yen in corporate donations to the LDP, nearly 200 million yen came from military-related firms which anticipate benefits from PM Abe’s pro-military stance.

Past related article:
> JCP is supported by funding from individual donors [November 29, 2014]