Double Entry for Kick-backed Lawmakers

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is going to approve “double nomination” of candidates, who were involved in the kickback scandal of political funds, in next general election of the House of Representatives. The scandal shook the party these years, causing significant losses of seats in recent elections. The president of LDP, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is going to reinstate those lawmakers with scandal, assuming that voters no longer insist on past money scandal of the LDP. 

The scandal was revealed in November 2023, when major news organization followed a report of Shimbun Akahata, the newspaper of Japan Communist party, in 2022. A large number of LDP lawmakers received fund from factions they had been affiliated, according to their sales of tickets for fundraising party. The lawmakers involved in the scandal were mainly with former factions led by Shinzo Abe or Toshihiro Nikai.

 

The LDP found that 85 lawmakers had failed in legally reporting the fund to the government, and 39 of them, who had been at important positions or received greater amount of fund, were imposed penalty, including suspension of party membership or excluded from positions in the party. The penalized lawmakers included former LDP policy chief, Koichi Hagiuda, or former Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Yasutoshi Nishimura.

 

In 2024 Lower House election, the LDP decided not to give those lawmakers with scandal a qualification for double nomination to both single-seat district and proportional district. Double nomination is a system in which a candidate who lost in single-seat district can be resurrected as listed on the party’s slate of proportional district. The LDP excluded some lawmakers involved in the scandal in single-seat districts from the slate of proportional district. As a result, 28 LDP lawmakers out of 46 who had involved in the scandal lost their seats in 2024 election.

 

In the election in February, the LDP is going to include lawmakers involved in the scandal in the party’s slate of proportional district. They can keep their seats, when they lost in their single-seat districts, by being included in the list of proportional district. In the proportional district, candidates who lost in single-seat district with slighter margin win their seats.

 

Takaichi argues that she would dissolve the Lower House and have a snap election to achieve endorsement for her administration and her decision to form a coalition with Japan Innovation Party and that it would accelerate her policies to make Japanese economy stronger. On the other hand, it must be true that she needs more colleagues around her who approve her hawkish policies.

 

Such colleagues are someone who had been affiliated with Abe faction. It is likely that Takaichi hopes to increase those colleagues by assuring double nomination for them in the Lower House election. It can be a political struggle in the LDP over restoration of power for conservative lawmakers.

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