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Yomiuri Shimbun file photo Lawmakers belonging to the Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito and the Democratic Party for the People discuss the issue of donations from companies and organizations in the Diet on March 31.
By Takahito Higuchi and Naohiro Tamura / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
6:00 JST, April 29, 2025
Debates among ruling and opposition parties over political donations by companies and organizations will restart after the Golden Week holidays but are predicted to run into difficulties.
Ahead of this summer’s House of Councillors election, a confrontational mood between the ruling and opposition camps is building. Debates held last fiscal year on the topic did not reach a conclusion.
Differences in opinion between the Liberal Democratic Party, which urges that the donations should be allowed, and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, which demands they be prohibited, are still wide.
A trilateral discussion among the LDP, Komeito and the Democratic Party for the People over strengthening regulations on the corporate donations has also been at a standstill.
Extra time
No conclusion on the issue of political donations from companies and organizations was reached by the end of March deadline set by the ruling and opposition parties. The parties instead decided to continue the debates after the Golden Week holidays.
“We have entered extra time because no conclusion was made,” said CDPJ leader Yoshihiko Noda at a press conference Friday. “Without excluding the possibility of going into a penalty shootout, we will continue to argue for [the donations] to be abolished and look for potential areas of compromise in order to reach a clear conclusion.”
The CDPJ, the Japan Innovation Party (JIP) and others on March 19 submitted a bill to prohibit political donations from companies and organizations.
The LDP, Komeito and the DPFP, on the other hand, are trying to agree on a plan to allow the donations to continue while strengthening regulations on them. The three parties agreed on two points on March 31. One is that only branches of political parties which submit political funds reports online will be allowed to receive the donations. The other is that, for those who donate more than ¥50,000 in a year, their name and total amount donated will be made public.
However, while Komeito and the DPFP demand that there should be a limit to annual donations from the same entity of ¥20 million, the LDP is instead demanding that the current regulations be maintained.
Thus, even the points of agreement between three parties’ agreed points have yet been included in a bill.
Some seek compromise
Ahead of the upper house election, there is a sense of alarm among DPFP members over the possibility that other opposition parties will regard the party as being on the side of the ruling coalition.
“It will be difficult to make further concessions,” a senior DPFP member said.
Although the LDP, Komeito and the DPFP combined hold a majority in the House of Representatives, Komeito and the DPFP are reluctant to push through a three-party revision. The two also feel that they need to reach an agreement under which the CDPJ, as the largest opposition party, will also be engaged in discussions on the revision.
In the CDPJ, some members have begun voicing the need for compromise on the basis that, if a revision cannot be made during the current Diet session, the momentum for a revision itself may be lost.
“To improve the current situation only by one step or even a half step, we should not insist on total prohibition [of donations from companies and organizations],” one member said. It is also the reason why Noda has been emphasizing the need for compromise.
On the other hand, the JIP has strongly pushed for the total ban of the donations and has stepped up its criticism of the LDP, Komeito and the DPFP.
Within the LDP, there is a belief that the public’s interests have shifted from the issue of politics and money to the impacts of U.S. tariff policy.
If the debates on the revision do not bear any fruit, the current system about the corporate donations will remain unchanged. Thus, there is not much benefit for the LDP in making such a compromise. “There is no need at all to force the issue [of discussions on donations] now,” a veteran LDP member said.
With less than two months remaining before the end of the current Diet session, scheduled for June 22, lawmakers in both the ruling and opposition camps have begun voicing concerns that time is running out.
