Vote on law revision for political funds postponed; LDP rewrites amendment on expenditure disclosure at Nippon Ishin’s request

The Special Committee on Political Reform of the House of Representatives decided in its executive session on Tuesday to postpone a question-and-answer session in which Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was to be present, as well as a subsequent vote on a bill to revise the control of political funds . Law, both of which were scheduled for that day.

The postponement followed the Liberal Democratic Party’s decision, in light of the objections of Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party), to withdraw the version of the revision bill submitted on Monday and submit a new version.

During the meeting, LDP lawmaker Keitaro Ono, the chief director of the ruling parties in the committee, requested that the bill’s submission for a plenary session in the lower house be postponed and canceled. After the board meeting, Ono apologized for the inconvenience caused in a conversation with the media.

In connection with this, LDP Diet Affairs Committee Chairman Yasukazu Hamada met with Jun Azumi, his counterpart in the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, at the Parliament Building on Tuesday morning to coordinate future schedules.

Hamada and Azumi agreed on the main points: the bill would be questioned in Kishida’s presence and then voted on by the committee on Wednesday before being voted on at a plenary meeting on Thursday. Azumi criticized the LDP’s approach as “terribly off track.”

An amendment to the bill submitted by the LDP to the lower house on Monday stipulated that amounts on receipts for expenditure on policy activities should be made public after ten years “if they exceed ¥500,000,” to which Ishin objected so strongly that it was willing to reverse this. of course and opposes the bill. As a result, the LDP, which values ​​consensus between the ruling and opposition parties, was forced to reintroduce the bill.

According to sources, the party is considering removing the ¥500,000 threshold and resubmitting the amendment to the lower house on Wednesday, in line with Ishin’s demand.