LDP Proposes Revisions to Political Fund Control Law, But Critics Remain Unsatisfied
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Japan has released proposals for revising the Political Fund Control Law in an attempt to prevent a repeat of the recent unreported funds scandal. However, the proposals have been met with criticism for failing to address several key issues.
One of the main recommendations is the introduction of "letters of confirmation" to verify the accuracy of political fund balance reports submitted by political organizations. Additionally, the proposals suggest that lawmakers should be held accountable for any misstatements or discrepancies in these reports, even if they are committed by accounting officials.
The LDP's initial reluctance to compile these proposals, particularly the "guilty-by-association" system, was overcome by heavy criticism from both within and outside the party. The scandal involved LDP factions returning money to individual lawmakers from ticket sales for faction fund-raising events, without reporting it as income or revenue in their political fund reports.
Many of the lawmakers involved claimed ignorance about the unreported funds, placing the blame solely on accounting officials. However, criticism grew that politicians were evading their responsibility.
To address this issue, the LDP proposals require lawmakers to issue letters of confirmation after reviewing the fund reports prepared by accounting officials. The officials would also be required to submit the reports and the written confirmations.
However, critics argue that the proposal lacks clarity on how the confirmation process should be carried out. Additionally, the proposals only hold politicians accountable for falsified reports if they issued letters of confirmation without sufficient checks.
Another point of contention is the lack of external audits for income related to political organizations. While the current policy covers expenditures, the LDP proposals do not include the establishment of a third-party organization for thorough audits, as demanded by opposition parties.
Furthermore, the proposals fail to address long-standing calls for drastic political reform and measures to close loopholes in the Political Fund Control Law. For example, the LDP did not propose a ban on donations from corporations and organizations, nor did it require disclosure on the use of policy activity funds, which currently do not need to be reported.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida aims to revise the law during the current Diet session. However, negotiations are expected to be challenging due to the significant differences between the LDP's proposals and those of its coalition partner, Komeito, and opposition parties.