1:00 JST, May 11, 2024
The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan plans to take the initiative in talks between the ruling and opposition parties on the reform of the Political Funds Control Law, expected to start in the middle of this month, to raise public perception to convey that the Liberal Democratic Party The party is not committed to political reform.
The CDPJ and other opposition parties reacted strongly to the ruling parties’ proposal to revise the law, saying this is not enough to remove public distrust.
โThese reforms are a joke,โ CDPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada said on Thursday, criticizing the ruling parties’ draft proposal. He also told reporters that the proposal is โtotally inadequate in terms of transparency.โ
Earlier on Thursday, Okada met with Motohisa Furukawa, head of the Diet Affairs Committee of the People’s Democratic Party, at the Diet for their first talks on jointly introducing a bill to revise the law.
The two sides agreed to continue discussions on issues such as the transparency of political funds, tougher penalties for lawmakers and the creation of a third party for political funds.
The CDPJ is gaining strength after winning all three House of Representatives by-elections in April. During the election campaigns, the LDP factions’ alleged violation of the Law on the Control of Political Funds was a point of contention.
On Wednesday, the CDPJ, Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) and the Japanese Communist Party filed a motion to have 44 LDP members from the factions led by late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and heavyweight Toshihiro Nikai investigated by the House Deliberative Council of Delegates. Political ethics. The opposition parties plan to demand that the LDP ‘swallow in their entirety’ the political reform proposals of the CDPJ and other opposition parties.
Ahead of the end of the current parliamentary session on June 23, the CDPJ is considering filing a motion of no confidence against the cabinet to force an early dissolution of the lower house.
However, it is said that the CDPJ is approaching the LDP behind the scenes to prevent disclosure of the use of what was previously called a โcorrespondence allowanceโ intended for documents, communications, travel and accommodation. The CDPJ’s political reform plan calls for disclosure of how these funds are allocated and spent. โThe CDPJ claims nice things on the surface, but they are secretly trying to avoid reforms that are uncomfortable for them,โ said a senior Nippon Ishin official.