LDP Proposes Revisions to Political Fund Control Law
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) released proposals on April 23rd to revise the Political Fund Control Law in response to the recent unreported funds scandal. However, the proposals have drawn criticism for not addressing several key issues.
One proposed change is the requirement for "letters of confirmation" to verify the accuracy of political fund balance reports submitted by political organizations. Additionally, if accounting officials are found guilty of misstatements in these reports, their lawmaker bosses would also face punishment, including the suspension of their civil rights.
The LDP initially resisted compiling these proposals, particularly the "guilty-by-association" system. However, they changed their stance due to heavy criticism from both within and outside the party.
The scandal involved LDP factions returning unreported funds to individual lawmakers, obtained through ticket sales for faction fundraising events. Many lawmakers claimed ignorance of the unreported funds, placing the blame solely on accounting officials.
However, criticism grew over politicians evading responsibility. To address this, the LDP proposal requires lawmakers to issue letters of confirmation after reviewing the fund reports prepared by accounting officials.
The proposals also include a mechanism to hold lawmakers accountable if accounting officials are found guilty of making false statements in the reports. However, this only applies if the lawmakers issued letters of confirmation without sufficient checks.
The LDP also proposes adding income to the list of expenditures subject to external audits, but it does not include the establishment of a third-party organization for conducting these audits, as demanded by opposition parties.
The LDP's proposals have been criticized for not addressing other key issues, such as banning corporate and organizational donations and requiring disclosure on the use of policy activity funds.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida aims to revise the law during the current Diet session, but discussions are expected to be challenging due to the differences between the LDP's proposals and those of its coalition partner, Komeito, and opposition parties.