The House of Representatives Special Committee on Political Reform convened for the first time on the 26th in response to the Liberal Democratic Party faction’s political party slush fund scandal. While the New Komeito Party and the opposition parties have argued for the need for wide-ranging political reforms, including a review of policy activity expenses and donations from corporations and organizations, the Liberal Democratic Party’s appeal has been biased toward clarifying the responsibilities of members. Opposition parties have pointed out that the Liberal Democratic Party’s proposal “allows for evasions” regarding the punishment of members of the Diet, highlighting the laxity of the Liberal Democratic Party’s reform stance, which caused the incident.
National Diet Building (file photo)
On this day, the first day of the special committee meeting, representatives each explained their reform proposals for amending the Political Funds Control Act. There was no interaction between political parties.
Keitaro Ohno of the Liberal Democratic Party emphasized, “The first thing we need to do is take preventive measures to ensure that inappropriate accounting practices never happen again.” In addition to clarifying responsibilities by requiring accounting officers to attach a “confirmation letter” from a member of parliament when submitting a political funds income and expenditure report, the bill also includes three points: strengthening external audits, and promoting online reporting of income and expenditures. .
On the other hand, regarding the ban on donations from companies and organizations, which have been criticized as distorting policy with money, he argued that “we need to ensure the diversity of political funding.” He also expressed a negative attitude toward disclosing the use of political organizations, saying, “Consideration is essential for trade secrets and privacy, and there are some aspects that don’t sit well with us.”
◆”It’s like a joint system, I don’t feel motivated.”
In response, Komeito and the opposition parties proposed a wide range of reform proposals, including the three points included by the Liberal Democratic Party, as well as the abolition of political activity fees and increased disclosure of party ticket purchasers. Yasuto Urano of the Nippon Ishin no Kai questioned the LDP’s stance of narrowing down the topics of discussion, asking, “Why are there only three points?”
Under the Liberal Democratic Party’s proposal, when a person in charge of accounting is punished for failing to fill in the information, a member of the Diet would also be punished if there was insufficient confirmation, but some believe that they could get away with it by saying, “I checked, but I didn’t notice.” After the special committee meeting ended, Hiroshi Kasa of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan told reporters, “The only thing that was announced was what appeared to be a coalition system, and they didn’t even show how they thought about the important corporate/organizational donations and political activity expenses, so I don’t feel motivated.” criticized.
At a press conference, Komeito Secretary-General Keiichi Ishii said only, “It will depend on future discussions” regarding whether Komeito’s request for disclosure of the use of political activity funds will be included in the ruling party’s plan, which is currently being discussed with the Liberal Democratic Party. (Shunsuke Inoue, Nobuko Ohno)
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