Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday successfully survived a no-confidence motion in the House of Representatives regarding controversial political funds control legislation.
The no-confidence motion was submitted by the main opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), in response to the passage of a revised political funds control law. According to Tokyo-based Kyodo News, the law has been criticized for failing to enhance financial transparency in politics.
The CDPJ had called for more significant reforms to the law, including a ban on corporate donations to political parties, as part of their efforts to restore public trust in politics. The opposition party accuses Kishida’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of undermining public trust through a fundraising scandal.
Despite the opposition, the ruling coalition, comprising the LDP and its junior partner, the Komeito party, approved the bill in the Diet, Japan’s national legislature, the day before the end of the current ordinary parliamentary session on Sunday.
The LDP has faced intense scrutiny following allegations that some of its factions, particularly the largest one formerly led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, failed to report portions of their income from fundraising parties and created slush funds for years.–News Desk