New Party Rules on Political Ethics

To enhance the party’s integrity eroded by slush fund scandal, the Political Reform Headquarters of Liberal Democratic Party approved a draft for revision of the rules for governance of the party. It will include stricter punishment of member lawmakers whose accounting manager is indicted, considering criticisms that lawmakers always escape from punishment in scandals on political fund. However, there is some arguments that the revision may not work well as the leaders intend to.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida insisted in the discussion of the Diet that he, as the president of LDP, would make stricter rule to punish not only the staffs but the lawmakers. In the slush fund scandal of kickbacks from factions, the leaders of factions have not been indicted, while their accounting managers, not lawmakers, were indicted. Those result invited criticisms that lawmakers are privileged improperly.

 

“Politicians must take responsibility as they should. We need to make a fundamental restart without regarding previous examples or traditions,” said Kishida in the meeting of Political Reform Headquarters.

 

The draft included revisions of Party Constitution, Party Discipline Rules and Party’s Governance Codes. The further punishment on lawmakers is added to Party Discipline Rules, issuing recommendation to leave the party or suspension of appointment to any position in the party, if his/her accounting manager was arrested or indicted. If the court sentenced guilty to the accounting manager and the decision was fixed, the lawmaker will be expelled from the party or recommended to leave. When a lawmaker was arrested or indicted, he/she is expelled or recommended to leave.

 

In the revision of Governance Codes, the faction is defined as “organization that tries to increase influence by numeric power of lawmakers, based on power of political fund and influential power to offering posts,” and prohibited party members to maintain or establishment of a faction. However, policy study group, to which the definition is not applied, is allowed to exist, prohibiting the group to have fundraising party and demanding it external audit on political fund report.

 

The revision of party constitution includes that party’s Political Ethics Hearing Committee recommends Secretary General to convene Party Ethics Committee, when it finds violation of a lawmaker or a policy group against Party Discipline Rules.

 

The revision of those rules can be interpreted as making rules for factions to maintain its activities as policy groups. There will be no change in rules for presidential election, which requires each candidate the nomination by at least twenty party Diet members. The provision effectively demands every candidate to make a group of at least twenty lawmakers for the supreme post of the party. 

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