Opposition party Nippon Ishin no Kai decided to vote against a bill to revise the Political Funds Control Law in the House of Councilors on Tuesday.
Nippon Ishin, who voted in favor of the bill in the House of Representatives, is also considering submitting a motion of censure against Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party, to the Senate.
The LDP aims to approve the bill during a plenary meeting of the Senate on Wednesday, before the current parliamentary session ends on Sunday.
“We will have to reject the bill if things remain as they are,” Fumitake Fujita, secretary general of Nippon Ishin, told reporters. He criticized Kishida for what he called a lack of governance.
In the House of Representatives, Nippon Ishin voted in favor of the bill, drawn up in response to the LDP’s slush fund scandal, after an agreement between Nippon Ishin leader Nobuyuki Baba and Kishida.
However, Nippon Ishin changed his mind after the LDP decided that it would not renew the so-called research, public relations and housing allowances for lawmakers during the current parliamentary session, even though reforms were included in the agreement.
The bill, which has undergone amendments, calls for lowering the threshold for disclosing information about those who purchased political fundraising party tickets from the current ¥200,000 ($1,265) to ¥50,000.
According to the bill, receipts for expenditure using so-called policy activity funds, which political parties provide to members of parliament, will be made public after ten years, as requested by Nippon Ishin.
