(Update) Political Funds Law Should Be Revised Early: LDP Exec

   Tokyo, April 17 (Jiji Press)--A Japanese Liberal Democratic Party executive Wednesday called for an envisaged revision of the political funds control law to be enacted during the current parliamentary session through June 23.
   "It is crucial that the (revised) law be enacted during the current Diet session," Hiroshi Moriyama, head of the ruling party's General Council, said in his speech at an event hosted by the Research Institute of Japan, a Jiji Press affiliate.
   A focal point of the revision, following a high-profile political funds scandal rocking the LDP factions, is whether to introduce a guilt-by-association system to hold lawmakers responsible for failures to include funds in political funds reports prepared by their staff.
   Moriyama voiced reluctance to introduce such a system, questioning whether it is appropriate for politicians to take punishments such as losing their jobs or suspensions of their civil rights.
   In the scandal, some LDP factions kicked back part of the revenues from fundraising parties to faction members without reporting such money in financial statements required under the political funds control law.

(2024/04/17-18:59)