The first regular Diet session held since a slush fund scandal rocked the ruling Liberal Democratic Party late last year effectively wound up on June 21.

The scandal was an acid test of whether the legislature could dispel the public’s distrust of not only the LDP but politics as a whole. However, only half-hearted actions were taken to reform the flawed political funding system.

A slew of half-baked bills directly linked to the nation’s future were passed without sufficient deliberations. Many key questions were left unanswered.

Neither Prime Minister Fumio Kishida nor the Diet can be said to have done enough to fulfill the people’s mandate. If the dismal political situation continues, making it impossible to restore public trust in the legislature, the foundations of Japan’s democracy could be at risk. The political crisis is deepening.

MANY QUESTIONS REMAIN

When the slush fund scandal surfaced, the first order of business was to clarify the facts. However, the LDP did not conduct an independent third party investigation, and interviews by party executives of the people involved were only perfunctory. In short, there was no proper explanation on how the funds were used.

Political heavyweights of the faction once headed by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which is at the center of the scandal, attended sessions of the Deliberative Councils on Political Ethics of both chambers. But something happened late in the Diet session that cast doubt on the credibility of remarks made by the Abe faction executives at the ethics council sessions. This should not be overlooked.

The matter concerned the decision to continue the practice of returning part of the proceeds from fundraising parties to individual politicians as unreported funds despite the faction’s decision to end it. According to the official in charge of accounting for the former Abe faction, who was indicted for making false entries in the political fund reports for the group, the decision to continue the practice was made at a meeting of party executives.

The official’s statement during a court hearing clearly contradicted the claim made by three executives at the ethics council sessions that no such decision was made.

A telephone interview with former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori conducted by Kishida himself was a mere formality, as Mori later exposed in a monthly magazine article. The interview was obviously an attempt to shift the political discourse on the scandal to the issue of how to reform the political funding system without uncovering the truth.

The effort to hold lawmakers involved in the scandal responsible for their actions was also perfunctory. The political ethics councils of both houses decided unanimously to question the 73 lawmakers who received secret funds, but not a single person attended.

Former LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai, who avoided punishment by announcing he will not run in the next Lower House election, is passing on his local support base to his third son. Former LDP Policy Affairs Research Council Chairman Koichi Hagiuda, who was “suspended from party positions” for failing to report nearly 30 million yen in political funds, continues serving as chairman of the federation of LDP Tokyo metropolitan assembly members, claiming local organizations are not covered by the penalty.

These facts inevitably cast doubt on the sincerity of the LDP’s self-claimed “soul searching” over the scandal. “Drawing the curtain” on this issue in the current Diet session is not acceptable.

HOLLOWING OUT OF LEGISLATURE

The revised Political Fund Control Law was enacted, but it fell short of the fundamental reform of political funding sought by the public. All sorts of loopholes remain, and depending on future considerations, many items could end up unrealized.

The “black box” opacity of “seisaku katsudo-hi” (policy activity expenses), where political parties provide funds directly to individual politicians, will be preserved for the time being.

The LDP categorically rejected calls for the reform of rules concerning donations by companies and other organizations, which could lead to special interest politics and are viewed critically by the public. It also passed on tighter regulations for fundraising parties, which are at the core of the scandal.

“Democracy inevitably costs money. We must resolutely avoid reforms that leave problems for the future,” said LDP Vice President Taro Aso, apparently echoing the party’s true feelings.

Under the current political funding system, which comes down to “money-driven politics,” parties and politicians skilled in fundraising can enjoy dominant power. These parties and politicians refuse any reform designed to inject transparency into political funds, preventing the public from checking their expenditures.

How long will this situation be allowed to continue? There is a yawning gap between the norms and mores within the political community and the people’s general values and common sense.

In this Diet session, it was natural for both the ruling and opposition parties to focus on political reform in response to the slush fund scandal. Increasingly, there seems to be a growing trend toward formalizing the Diet’s deliberations on bills that greatly affect people’s rights and lives.

At the root of this trend is the government’s increasing use of a ploy to limit the content included in bills. This leaves much of the details and specifics to be decided by government ordinances and guidelines established after legislation, which has become a justification for the government to avoid detailed explanations about bills during Diet deliberations.

IF KISHIDA WISHES TO BE RE-ELECTED

The alarming trend was pronounced in deliberations on some important bills during this Diet session. They included one to introduce a “suitability evaluation system,” which limits the handling of important information on economic security to persons recognized by the government as suitable for such tasks. Another is the revised Local Autonomy Law, which allows the government to direct local administrations in emergencies as well as one to prevent sexual violence against children that requires the operators of facilities for children to check the past sex crime records of employees in positions involving dealing with children.

Leaving the parts of bills vague that concern the core of the system and might be arbitrarily enforced by the government will create problems for the future. Restoring the legislature’s supervisory function requires the government to change its attitude. It will also test the opposition’s capabilities to respond effectively to problematic bills.

As the Diet session ended without the Lower House being dissolved for a snap election, the political focus is shifting to the LDP’s presidential election in the autumn. With the Cabinet’s approval ratings remaining at record-low levels, Kishida’s clout and leadership within the party are waning. If he is still aiming for re-election, he will need to accumulate convincing achievements in domestic and foreign policy to regain public trust.

In a June 21 news conference, Kishida said, “There is no end to political reform.” It is impossible to believe these words unless he immediately starts addressing the issues that were postponed for further consideration.

In this Diet session, the connection between Education Minister Masahito Moriyama and the Unification Church, now formally called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, was brought up. The clarification of the relationship between the LDP and the dubious religious group remains murky, and the party’s pledge to sever its ties with the church still requires scrutiny.

The LDP should not think for a minute that the public will eventually forget all these scandals concerning its links with the church and the slush funds involving party factions.

The ruling party should be keenly aware that its inherent nature, characteristics and culture have been questioned.

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 22