In this year’s ordinary session, the Diet must tackle loss of public trust in the political funding system due to the scandal surrounding the Liberal Democratic Party’s factional fundraising parties. At the same time, it must strive to find answers to a plethora of pressing national issues.

Not only members of the Kishida administration but all lawmakers, both from the ruling and opposition parties, must be aware of the heavy responsibility they bear for the scandal. They now need to put all their efforts into overcoming this “political crisis.”

The 150-day regular session of the Diet kicked off Jan. 26 in an unusual manner. The prime minister’s policy speech, which usually takes place on the first day, was postponed until after concentrated deliberations are held on “politics and money” in the Budget Committees of both legislative chambers.

The ruling party also replaced 11 Diet members who belonged to the Abe faction and held important parliamentary posts, such as the chairpersons of committees of both houses. This was in response to revelations of how the largest LDP faction once headed by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe amassed a slush fund by pooling part of the proceeds from fundraising parties.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has repeatedly stated that without the trust of the people, there can be no stability in politics or advancement of policies. It is clear that getting to the bottom of the slush fund scandal, which has touched most of the LDP factions, remains the starting point of the debate.

Key members of the Abe faction and other lawmakers embroiled in the affair should be held accountable through sessions of the Deliberative Councils on Political Ethics and testimonies as sworn witnesses before the respective Budget Committees.

The political funding system needs to be completely revamped to make the flow of political funds transparent.

The opposition parties have already proposed strengthening regulations on fundraising parties and measures to bolster accountability and transparency. The proposed measures include introducing a guilt-by-association system.

For example, if the treasurer for a political group was found guilty of wrongdoing, its members would also be held accountable.

The reform proposals include disclosure on the use of “policy activity expenses” transferred from parties to individual politicians as well as massive allowances paid to Diet members to cover research, study, publicity and accommodation expenses (formerly “document, communication, travel and accommodation,” or “buntsu-hi” for short). Komeito, the LDP’s junior coalition partner, supports some of these proposals.

The LDP’s “interim summary” of party reforms, hastily cobbled together before the opening of the Diet session, calls for amending the Political Funds Control Law but offers no specific proposals for legal changes.

The ruling party needs to swiftly resume discussions at the political reform task force, compile concrete proposals and start serious talks with the opposition over the ideas.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the 1994 “Heisei political reform,” a set of political and electoral system reforms in the early Heisei Era (1989-2019) that introduced single-seat constituencies combined with proportional representation for the Lower House.

The reform also introduced tax-funded state subsidies for parties while restricting political contributions by companies and organizations that could give these entities undue influence over policies and skew the democratic process in their favor.

However, the reform has not banned political donations by businesses and other entities to parties nor plugged loopholes to sidestep restrictions such as purchasing party tickets. The LDP needs to engage in bipartisan discussions to revive the legislature’s commitment to the original goals of the Heisei initiative.

The issues that need to be debated during the five-month Diet session are not limited to “political reform.” The Diet must also consider policy support for victims of the Jan. 1 Noto Peninsula earthquake and the recovery and reconstruction of devastated communities.

It also needs to rigorously review the policy responses to the disaster, including the initial actions taken by the government. It must also thoroughly scrutinize the fiscal 2024 draft budget, which has swelled to over 112 trillion yen, the second largest ever, and relies heavily on deficit financing.

The Kishida administration’s move at the end of last year to revise the “Three Principles on the Transfer of Defense Equipment” to open the door to the export of lethal weapons cannot be overlooked either.

It is also the Diet's responsibility to review and critically evaluate policies pushed forward by the administration without open national debate.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 27