17.3 billion yen in government subsidy goes to DPJ

Japan Press Weekly

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

17.3 billion yen in government subsidy goes to DPJ

Jiji Press on September 2 issued its estimate of the amounts of government subsidies that political parties will receive next year as a result of the August 30 House of Representatives general election.

The news agency says that the government subsidy to the Democratic Party of Japan, which won the majority of the House of Representatives seats, will receive 17.3 billion yen, a 46.2 percent increase from the current amount. The Liberal Democratic Party, which suffered a crushing defeat, will receive about 10 billion yen, down from 15 billion yen.

The system of government subsidies for political parties costs every Japanese citizen 250 yen a year. The total amount of subsidies in 2009 is about 31.9 billion yen. Political parties except the Japanese Communist Party share this amount depending on the number of seats in the Diet and their percentage of the vote in the most recent election.

The JCP is critical of the system of government subsidies because it forces people to donate to political parties that they do not support, and violates the people's freedom of thought and creed guaranteed by the Constitution as their basic right.

The Your Party became eligible to receive the government subsidy because it won five seats in this general election, which is the minimum requirement under the law for government subsidies for political parties. In contrast, the Japan Renaissance Party became ineligible by losing one seat.

Following is the amount and the rate of change for other political parties:

Komei Party                2.4 billion yen (11.8% decrease)
Social Democratic Party  869 million yen (3.6% decrease)
People's New Party       399 million yen (6.9% decrease)
Your Party               340 million yen
New Party Nippon         159 million yen (21.9% decrease)

- Akahata, September 3, 2009