Complete Donation Ban Disappears

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told last December that he would conclude the reform of donation from companies and organizations to political entities by the end of March 2025. At the time of mid-March, there are three groups in the Diet over reforming of Political Funds Control Act. While two of them demand regulation on the donation, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) rather focuses on disclosure than regulation. There remains no party which upholds complete elimination of donation from companies and organizations. 

A private company can donate to a party, while it cannot do to individual politician. Most companies currently donate to the LDP, possibly expecting a favor from the leading party. The amount of the donation in 2023 was 2.3 billion yen. It was three thousand times more than what the second party, Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), received (760 thousand yen) in the same year.

 

That is why the LDP is reluctant to regulate the donation from companies and organizations which is mainly in the business community. The CDPJ, with some opposition parties, submitted a bill to regulate the donation last December. The bill excluded certain kind of organizations, including labor unions. Opposing to that loophole, Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin-no Kai) refused to join the bill at the time, arguing that all the organizations should be subject to the regulation.

 

However, Ishin finally joined the group of CDPJ. Ishin found that total elimination of organization’s donation can be violating freedom of political activities. Both parties agreed on setting upper limit of annual donation by a political organization at 60 million yen. An organization can donate to a party as much as 20 million yen. They are going to submit new bill later this month with some other opposition parties including Japan Communist Party and Reiwa Shinsengumi.

 

The Democratic Party for the People (DPP) does not join the opposition group on this issue. While CDPJ and Ishin basically negative in continuing donation of companies and organizations, the DPP hopes to allow donation of private companies. With detailed discussion with LDP’s coalition partner, Komeito, the DPP is going to make a proposal for stricter regulation to the LDP. The LDP has submitted its own bill which disclose the name of donor with annual 10 million yen or more without banning donation.

 

Now, there are three groups on the issue. Hardliners are the group with the CDPJ and Ishin. The DPP and Komeito are in the middle. The LDP is on the softest position on the political donation from private company. However, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is facing harsh criticisms on his careless management of political funds, as seen in distribution of gift certificate to young LDP lawmakers. It is not expectable that LDP bill will easily gain a majority for their bill in both Houses of the Diet.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Amendment of Local Autonomy Law

The House of Representatives started discussion on revision of the Local Autonomy Law, which would vest the national government a power to instruct local government in an emergency. It may change the relationship between the national and local government, which has been recognized as equal. The opposition parties oppose the amendment, arguing that it would give the national government an excessive power.   With the Meiji Restoration, the national government abolished the feudal system, introducing modern governance. However, its autonomy was not sufficient. The governor of each prefecture was appointed by the national government. The local governments subordinated to the national government. It was as late as 2000 when  the Comprehensive Decentralization Law  was enacted and the relationship between the national and local government was defined as equal.   The national government found inconvenience in the relationship between the national and local government, when ...
Read more

Request for Final Nuclear Disposal Site

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry requested Genkai Town, Saga, to accept “literature survey” for building a final disposal site for high-level radioactive waste. Genkai is going to answer within this month. If it accepts, it will be the third place to accept that survey, following two places in Hokkaido. Main reason to accept the survey is supposed to be subsidy from the national government.   Japan has no final disposal site. Among all 54 reactors in 17 nuclear power generation plant, 12 reactors of 6 plants are operating. The rest of them are not in operation, some of which are determined to be decommissioned. Used nuclear fuels are stocked in each plant, 　 or have sent to a reprocessing plant in Rokkasho, Aomori. There are two plans to stock nuclear wastes in the intermediate facility for disposal, one is already built and another is still in negotiation.   Nuclear Fuel Final Disposal Act in 2000 determines to bury nuclear waste in the underground. Literature survey, ...
Read more

Death Penalty Demanded on Criminal of Arson

On the historically brutal case of arson, the public prosecutors demanded an ultimate penalty to the offender. In the trial on the arson and murder in Kyoto Animation in 2019, the prosecutors requested death penalty on the defendant, Shinji Aoba. The lawyers of Aoba argued that the court should avoid sentencing death penalty. The judgement will be passed next January. Aoba was indicted as putting fire after pouring gasoline in the building of Kyoto Animation (Kyoani), a studio producing animation works, and killed 36 staffs and injured 32 on July 18 th , 2019. In the trial, Aoba argued that he could not tolerate Kyoani, because it had stolen his novel story in its works. Aoba later apologized to the victim’s families that he had done too much and regretted it.   In the closing argument in Kyoto Regional Court, the prosecutors demanded death penalty for Aoba, because the number of victims were extremely high in the history of criminal trials in Japan. “It is hard to describe about h...
Read more