Stung by a series of corruption scandals since last year, the ruling-coalition parties have begun talks aimed at updating some of the rules governing the financing of political campaigns in Japan. The Liberal Democratic Party seeks to raise the legal limit on donations that do not require disclosure of a donor's name -- to 300,000 yen a year from 50,000 yen at present.
The party says the current standard is so severe that it discourages many prospective donors, thus putting a damper on bona fide contributions. But disclosure of donors' names, as well as donations themselves, is essential to ensure transparency and openness in campaign funding. Raising the disclosure limit goes against these principles.
The Political Funds Control Law, designed to subject political activities to "constant public scrutiny and criticism," has been revised again and again in the wake of major corruption and bribery scandals. In 1994, the disclosure limit was lowered sharply to 50,000 yen from 1 million yen as part of political reform. As a result, nearly 90 percent of all contributions were linked to identified donors.