A bill to amend the Political Funds Control Law passed the House of Representatives on the 6th. It is a compromise bill aimed at preventing a recurrence of the political funding scandals that have plagued the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
The LDP gained the support of both its ruling coalition partner, Komeito, and the opposition Japan Restoration Party by amending the bill and accepting some of the demands of both parties.
Free Education for All, a small political party founded last year, also voted in favour of the bill.
As the four ruling parties hold a majority of seats in the House of Councillors, the bill is expected to be passed by the end of the regular Diet session on June 23.
The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, the Communist Party, and the Democratic Party for the People voted against the bill.
The House of Councillors will begin deliberations on the bill on June 7th.
The bill is primarily intended to address issues arising from a scandal in which income from fundraising parties held by various LDP factions went unreported for years.
The LDP submitted the bill to the House of Representatives on May 17th on its own, as it was unable to gain the support of the Komeito Party, which was calling for stricter regulations.
The Political Funds Control Act stipulates that if tickets to a fundraising party cost more than 200,000 yen ($1,280), the purchaser must be identified.
In order to secure the support of the Komeito party, the LDP included in the bill a proposal to lower the disclosure standard to above 50,000 yen.
The party also agreed with the proposal made by the Japan Innovation Party to have politicians report how they have used policy activity funds they receive from political parties with receipts 10 years later.
However, the LDP rejected more drastic measures proposed by the Constitutional Democratic Party, the Democratic Party, the Communist Party and others, such as banning political donations from companies and organizations and abolishing policy activity expenses.
