Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at a meeting held on March 7 of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's political reform task force. (Takeshi Iwashita)

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party approved proposals to punish lawmakers for illegal acts committed by their staff members, but the supposedly tougher measures have already been called “window dressing” within the party.

The “guilt by association” rules were approved at a March 7 meeting of the LDP’s political reform task force. Formal approval will be made at the LDP convention scheduled for March 17.

The changes in the party’s regulations and discipline rules were proposed in light of the recent scandal surrounding fund-raising parties held by LDP factions.

One revision would add disciplinary measures targeting lawmakers if staff members of their political groups are indicted or found guilty of violating the Political Fund Control Law.

The revised Party Discipline Rules would allow the LDP to recommend a lawmaker leave the party or to suspend that individual’s status as a party member if the staff member is arrested or indicted.

If that staff member’s conviction and penalty are finalized, the lawmaker would face the possibility of dismissal from the party, the harshest disciplinary measure available.

However, the proposals do not establish clear guidelines for what might happen to a lawmaker if a staff member working for an LDP faction is indicted or found guilty of violating the Political Fund Control Law.

Although staff members of the Abe, Nikai and Kishida factions were indicted or given summary indictments, no executives of those factions faced any legal action.

And various conditions were included in the proposals to make it more difficult to dismiss a lawmaker from the party.

In order to hand down the harshest discipline, the lawmaker must be found to have been “involved” in the illegal action of the staff member of the group.

The proposal does not define what would constitute “involvement.”

One member of the task force said it would be impossible to boot any lawmaker out of the party if they simply said they were not involved in the acts of the staff member.

Many members of the Abe faction used this defense concerning unreported political funds in the scandal.

A lawmaker who does not belong to any faction said: “No disciplinary measures can be handed down if the individual says, ‘I was not aware of any illegality.’ The reform is only window dressing.”

The LDP’s governance code will also be revised to ban factions that wield influence through money and in pushing for personnel matters.

“Policy groups” will be allowed to be formed, but they will be prohibited from holding fund-raising parties. The political fund reports of those policy groups must also be audited by an outside party before submittal.

Under the proposed changes, all personnel decisions will be made by the party. That leaves open the possibility of the party president and secretary-general wielding even greater power than they have now.

(This article was written by Ayako Nakada and Yuta Ogi.)

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