EDITORIAL: Here we go again; another pledge by LDP to reform itself

Release time：2024-05-07 23:29:00 Source：Earthly Insights news portal

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s convention on March 17 buzzed with powerful phrases, such as the party will be “reborn anew” through “an overhaul starting from scratch” and it will “never allow a resurgence (of factions).”

The rhetoric of commitment to internal reform is one thing, but the fact remains it is hard not to doubt whether the scandal-wracked party can deliver on its promises of change. If the LDP’s pledge to remake itself ends up as lip service, its already weak credibility with the public will simply be further eroded.

This was the first LDP convention to be held since revelations that its factions were systematically building up slush funds by pooling part of the proceeds from fund-raising parties.

Although sessions of the Deliberative Council on Political Ethics of both houses of the Diet to discuss the scandal have run their course, the deliberations fell short of uncovering the real picture of the dubious political funding practices. This is mostly due to the failure of key lawmakers to fulfill their responsibility to give a full accounting of the matter.

The party has yet to announce any disciplinary action against those involved, nor has it presented a comprehensive plan for legislative reforms to ensure transparency in political funding. No wonder the convention did not shape up as an event to convince the voting public of the LDP’s commitment to reinvent itself as a clean party by purging itself of shady off-the-books funds.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida started his speech by apologizing for causing “serious political distrust” and stated, “I will spearhead a rigorous campaign to reform the party and politics.” He also revealed that he had instructed LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi to take strict disciplinary action against the party members involved.

Two months have already passed since Tokyo prosecutors wound up their investigation into the scandal. The party’s response so far has been surprisingly slow and lukewarm.

To be fair, the party took certain preventive measures at the convention, such as adopting party rule amendments and reporting revisions to the party code of discipline as well as the governance code, which serves as a guideline for party management. But their effectiveness remains uncertain as they all depend on how they are implemented.

For example, a new regulation in the disciplinary code states that if the person responsible for accounting a lawmaker’s political funds is arrested or indicted for violating the Political Fund Control Law, the member can also be disciplined. If the accountant is convicted, the punishment against the lawmaker becomes more severe, for example, “recommendation to leave the party” or “expulsion” upon conviction, but it is contingent on the member’s “involvement.”

If the all-too-familiar excuse used in such cases--“I left the matter to my secretary and wasn’t involved myself”--which was also often repeated in past cases concerning slush funds, is accepted, the odds will be on the lawmakers easily escaping severe punishment.

The governance code that the LDP formulated in 2022, touting it as “rules suitable for a modern political party,” explicitly stated that in the event of a member politician facing allegations related to political funds, the lawmaker must offer “meticulous explanations to the public” while at the same time obliging the party to make “a strict response.”

Considering the party’s response to the slush fund scandal after it came to the fore, this is nothing but an empty slogan. Even after revisions, the code clearly has no teeth.

The new policy for activities adopted at the convention has a subtitle, “Based on deep soul searching; we will definitely change, we will definitely be transformed." How genuine is that “soul searching?”

As for issues concerning its relationship with the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church), the LDP has moved on without a thorough investigation, as if it’s already “a thing of the past.”

Party executives and members who repeat discriminatory remarks or problematic statements are still left unchecked. If the party’s “soul searching” is nothing but empty rhetoric with no intention to take actions to show responsibility, the whole exercise is just a waste of time.

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 19

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