TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio on Monday urged his Liberal Democratic Party to speed up talks with Komeito to draw up the ruling bloc’s proposal on a revision of the political funds control law.

Kishida, also president of the LDP, the nucleus of the ruling coalition, gave the instructions at a meeting with LDP lawmakers, including SUZUKI Keisuke, who heads a working team under the party’s political reform headquarters.

The meeting, held at the official residence of the prime minister, took place immediately after Kishida returned from a tour of France, Brazil, and Paraguay on Monday afternoon. Monday was a national holiday in Japan.

By holding the meeting right after his return home and on a holiday, Kishida apparently intended to demonstrate his resolve to push ahead with political reform as public anger remains unabated over a high-profile slush fund scandal involving LDP factions.

Suzuki briefed Kishida on agreements reached within the LDP so far, including requiring lawmakers to prepare a document confirming that there are no errors in their political funds reports.

In response, Kishida urged the party to continue talks so that an agreement will be made between the LDP and Komeito as early as possible.

He also called on Suzuki and others to advance discussions on other issues, apparently referring to, among other things, the possibility of expanding the scope of buyers of fundraising party tickets whose names are disclosed.

Currently, the names of those paying more than 200,000 yen for fundraising party tickets are subject to disclosure under the political funds control law.

A set of proposals to amend the law that the LDP drafted in late April effectively pushed back measures to improve transparency over fundraising party revenues and so-called policy activity funds, classifying these issues into the category of items for which discussions will be continued.

But the LDP is now considering lowering the threshold for the disclosure of the names of fundraising party ticket buyers from over 200,000 yen, in the wake of its losses in all three by-elections for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, held on April 28.

In the scandal, part of revenues from fundraising parties held by LDP factions was turned into slush funds without being reported in political fund statements.

JIJI Press