Photo/Illutration Shegeru Ishiba holds a news conference in Tokyo after being elected as the 103rd prime minister on Nov. 11. (Pool)

After retaining the prime minister’s post on Nov. 11, Shigeru Ishiba pledged additional reforms of political funding regulations, an issue that helped to push his ruling coalition into the minority in the Lower House.

With the divided Diet, Ishiba now needs to cooperate with opposition parties, who have demanded measures to prevent a repeat of the funding scandal that embroiled the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The prime minister outlined further revisions of the Political Fund Control Law, stating it has become increasingly difficult to gain public support for the current system.

These proposals include the abolition of policy activity expenses that political parties distribute to individual members. The recipients are under no obligation to report how the funds are used.

He also called for disclosure of how Diet members spend their fixed monthly allowances, which are supposed to cover research, travel and communication expenses. He added that any leftover funds should be returned.

Additionally, Ishiba pledged to take steps toward establishing an independent body to oversee political funding, as well as creating a database that would allow public access to political fund reports.

Before the Oct. 27 Lower House election, LDP factions and lawmakers were found to have failed to report a significant amount of proceeds gained through ticket sales to fund-raising parties.

The government under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida revised the Political Fund Control Law in response, and his successor, Ishiba, took disciplinary action against some LDP individuals.

But these measures were seen as insufficient, and the LDP and coalition partner Komeito suffered significant losses in the Lower House election.

Ishiba on Nov. 11 stated he would urge LDP lawmakers implicated in the scandal to explain themselves before the Diet’s Deliberative Council on Political Ethics.

However, the prime minister remained cautious regarding reforms for corporate and organizational donations, stating only that the focus should be on “ensuring high transparency to allow voters to make an informed decision.”

Before the Diet vote that named Ishiba prime minister again, he met with opposition leaders to seek their support in passing budgetary and other bills.

He held discussions with Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, who lost to Ishiba in the Diet runoff vote for prime minister.

Ishiba also met separately with Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the rising Democratic Party for the People, which is ideologically closer to the ruling coalition than the CDP.

Tamaki urged Ishiba to support the DPP’s key policy proposal to raise the income threshold for taxation. Currently set at 1.03 million yen ($6,700), the party advocates increasing it to 1.78 million yen.

While avoiding an immediate commitment to the policy, Ishiba agreed to continue discussing the issue.

“The reform will surely increase take-home pay, but there are various issues regarding how this would affect overall tax revenue,” he said.

The prime minister also revealed plans to finalize a comprehensive economic package, including measures to address rising prices, by the end of the month.

He aims to pass a supplementary budget to secure funding for the package within the year.

In addition, Ishiba pledged to invest more than 10 trillion yen for the artificial intelligence and semiconductor sectors by fiscal 2030.

Related News