subsidy

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

End subsidies for political parties now
Akahata editorial (excerpts)

In this year's second quarterly installment of state subsidies to political parties, a total of 7.9 billion yen was distributed on July 20 among five political parties, the Liberal Democratic Party, the Komei Party, the Democratic Party of Japan, the Social Democratic Party, and Jiyu Rengo (Liberal Coalition). State-run university students this year are forced to pay an extra 8 billion yen in tuitions.

The annual amount of subsidies to political parties is nearly 32 billion yen.

In 2005, the LDP will receive 15.4 billion yen. In 2003, the subsidy accounted for 60 percent of the income to the LDP head office. It won't be too much to describe the LDP as the government managed party.

Equally, the DSP will receive 12.2 billion yen this year. The percentage of the subsidy to the income of the DSP head office was over 80 percent in 2003.

Before the system of subsidies to political parties was introduced in 1995, political parties managed their finances without being subsidized with tax money.

Whether to support a political party and whether to donate money or not to a political party should be based on freedom of thought and conscience. For the government to use tax money to subsidize political parties amounts to compulsory donations in violation of the constitutional right to freedom of thought and conscience.

If political parties see nothing wrong with their being financially dependent on tax money, as if they were state-run, they are like giving up their independence. These circumstances are undermining party-based politics.

A business magazine EL NEOS in its November 2004 issue said, "The JCP finances itself with party fees, members' voluntary activities, donations and income from the sale of publications, receiving neither the government subsidy nor corporate donations. This is proof that other parties can do the same, if they are in earnest."

Abolishing the system of subsidizing political parties is an indispensable task to make politics care for the people and their needs. -- Akahata, July 22, 2005