The LDP's Proposals for Revising the Political Fund Control Law
On April 23, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) released its proposals for revising the Political Fund Control Law. These proposals aim to prevent a repeat of the unreported funds scandal that rocked the party in recent months.
Letters of confirmation: Political organizations would be required to issue "letters of confirmation" to show that their political fund balance reports have been properly prepared.
If accounting officials are punished for misstatements or other discrepancies in such reports, their lawmaker bosses would also be punished, with their civil rights suspended.
The scope of external audits would be expanded to include income, not just expenditures.
"Guilty-by-association" system: The proposal to hold politicians responsible for the actions of accounting officials has been criticized as a "guilty-by-association" system.
The proposal does not specify how the letters of confirmation would be carried out or what constitutes sufficient checks.
The proposal does not include a ban on donations from corporations and organizations, which has been a long-standing demand of opposition parties.
The proposal does not 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, talks are expected to be difficult due to the gap between the LDP's proposal and those of its junior coalition partner, Komeito, and opposition parties.