Political Donation Ban Left Behind

As current session of the Diet reaches the end less than a month away, the parties fell apart on discussion for regulation over political donation from companies or organizations (PDCO). Among the opposition parties, most of which are unified to ban that kind of donation, only Democratic Party for the People (DPP) joined trilateral talks for continuing PDCO with the ruling coalition of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito. It is unlikely that the reform of political fund system will see a conclusion in this session. 

When kickback fund scandal of some factions in the LDP was revealed, it was generally recognized that private companies and industrial organizations must have been main buyers of ticket of fundraising parties. The opposition parties argued that inappropriate use of political fund would not disappear as long as rules on PDCO is left unchanged. Former LDP president Yohei Kono remembered that he agreed in 1994 with then prime minister Morihiro Hosokawa to ban PDCO five years later.

 

Criticizing LDP’s reluctancy against prohibiting PDCO, four opposition parties led by Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), submitted a bill in December 2024 to revise Political Funds Control Act which would prohibit PDCO. However, the LDP refused voting on the bill, and promised instead to conclude on PDCO by March 2025. The LDP submitted its own bill in January 2025 that would enhance transparency of PDCO. The DPP agreed on neither bill.

 

The LDP failed to get a conclusion by the end of March, not achieving majority for passing its own bill in the Lower House. The DPP and Komeito continued discussion for their alternative bill including further regulation on PDCO, but they have not submitted their bill to the Diet. While each prohibition bill of the CDPJ or transparency bill of the LDP cannot have any prospect to get majority votes, time for the Diet to pass a bill within the term of this ordinary session is running out. In the eyes of other opposition parties, the DPP looked like buying time for the LDP.

 

The DPP has not been taking hard stance against the LDP on this issue. Its leader, Yuichiro Tamaki, said that the party would approve a bill, if all the party would agree on it. In other words, the DPP would not approve any bill without unanimous support. Given the fact that the LDP and the opposition parties oppose each other, the DPP has chosen a course in which no law for reforming the system of PDCO would be established.

 

The scandal of kickback fund was the biggest reason for the LDP in the election of the Lower House last October. Former prime minister Fumio Kishida referred to a possibility of restructuring the leading coalition, indicating a choice to include the DPP in the administrative framework, if the Upper House election would be resulted in miserable defeat of the LDP. He once referred to an option of upholding Tamaki as next prime minister. It is a question whether Tamaki recognizes LDP’s approach to him as serious hope or a bait.

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