250 billion yen in tax money to all parties except for the JCP

Political parties other than the Japanese Communist Party have received a total of 250 billion yen (2.1 billion dollars) since 1995 when the system of government subsidies to political parties was introduced.

This year, they received 32 billion yen (253 million dollars). The amount of subsidy is based on the calculation that every Japanese, including babies, should share the payment of 250 yen per head.

This subsidy system means that tax money is given to parties, no matter which political party each person may support. The Japanese Communist Party regards this system as violating the Constitution, and has refused to receive any subsidy ever since the system started.

On December 16, a few days before the annual subsidy distribution on December 20, the Kanmaki Town Assembly in Nara Prefecture adopted an opinion calling for the system of subsidies to political parties to be abolished.

This is the first assembly opinion of this kind. The opinion stated, "Subsidies to political parties should immediately end and those tax resources should be shifted to measures that will help people suffer less from the economic recession."

Instead, the Liberal Democratic Party, the Komei Party, and the Democratic Party of Japan, all of which received the subsidies, adopted a draft national budget for the next year in which pensions are cut, medical burdens on the elderly are increased, and allowances for children of single-parent families are cut. (end)