Nippon Ishin Puts Emphasis on Corporate Donation Ban

Seiji Maehara
17:09 JST, January 19, 2025
Tokyo (Jiji Press)—Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation party) puts importance on the realization of a ban on political donations from firms and organizations in deciding whether it will support a possible no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s cabinet at the upcoming parliamentary session, Seiji Maehara, co-leader of the opposition party, has said.
“I will stick to (the stance of) banning donations from companies and organizations,” he said in an interview with Jiji Press.
The Diet, Japan’s parliament, is set to be convened for a 150-day ordinary session Friday.
“We will work on our two missions—realizing free education and reducing social security premiums—in Diet discussions on the government’s fiscal 2025 draft budget” after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its Komeito ally lost their combined House of Representatives majority in the October 2024 general election for the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, Maehara said.
“Over the issue of politics and money, Nippon Ishin has no intention to compromise (with the ruling camp) about introducing a ban on donations from companies and organizations,” Maehara said, adding, “We will build a firm alliance with other opposition parties to realize the ban.”
Noting that the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan is expected to call for discussions in the latter half of the ordinary Diet session on the country introducing a dual surname system for married couples, Maehara said, “Nippon Ishin will draw up its stance on the matter.”
Nippon Ishin, in talks with the ruling coalition, has called for making high school education free of charge from April this year, eliminating nursery fees for children aged up to 2 and school meal fees in April 2026, and realizing tuition-free higher education also in April next year, Maehara said.
He said that his party is also seeking the enactment of a law on setting specific road maps for the fee eliminations.
He also said that Nippon Ishin hopes to propose creating a framework of dialogue on social security premium cuts with the LDP and Komeito.
Asked about Nippon Ishin’s stance on the fiscal 2025 draft budget, Maehara said, “We will make a decision while watching how the ruling parties will react to our proposals.”
He said: “They must at least accept our demand for free high school education from this April. We will make a decision after comprehensively examining the ruling side’s responses to our proposals for the establishment of the road map law and reductions in social security premiums.”
On Nippon Ishin’s response to a possible no-confidence motion against the Ishiba cabinet, Maehara said, “Whether to vote for or against the fiscal 2025 draft budget is an important issue, and political reforms are also significant.”
While saying that he will consult Nippon Ishin leader Hirofumi Yoshimura on the issue, Maehara stressed, “I’d like to stick to (the stance of aiming for) introducing a ban on political donations from companies and organizations.”
Maehara said Nippon Ishin aims to win six or more of the 124 seats up for grabs in this summer’s election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet.
Nippon Ishin plans to put up as many candidates as possible in constituencies where two or more seats will be contested while asking other opposition parties to hold primaries to unify candidates in constituencies in which only one seat is up for grabs, he said.
Currently, Nippon Ishin has a total of 18 Upper House seats, and six of them are set to be contested in the upcoming triennial election.
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