Buying political influence

日本経団連が政治献金斡旋再開

As the nation's largest business organization, however, Nippon Keidanren will have to maintain a certain degree of self-imposed restraint in influencing politics with financial power. Otherwise, an excessive move toward having a bigger say in politics could provoke public antipathy. Even more than before, business people and business circles must try to keep harmony with civil society and to exercise good conscience and self-control as members of that society.

Certainly companies assist people's lives by supplying products and services that people need, and they also provide employment opportunities. The basic goal of business organizations, which is to make profits, remains unchanged. If the pursuit of profits goes too far, though, it may threaten people's lives. A good example of this was the problem of pollution in the 1970s, when the discharge of exhaust gas and pollutants caused illness and suffering among local residents.

More recently, consumers reacted furiously to such scandals as the falsification of beef labels and the concealment of defective automobiles, which rocked the management foundations of the companies concerned. Such situations certainly do not help the corporate image. Companies must always act according to the rules of civil society. In resuming Nippon Keidanren's mediation in political donations, business leaders must demonstrate full awareness of this bottom line.

As a new method for mediating political donations, Nippon Keidanren says it will provide guidelines as a reference for companies and industrial organizations when they make political donations. These guidelines will comprise evaluations of the policies of political parties, indicating their practical strengths and track records.

After referring to these guidelines, companies and organizations will independently decide on the recipients and the amounts of their donations.

Until 1993, when the former Keidanren ceased its mediation role, donation quotas were assigned to each industrial organization such as the Japan Iron and Steel Federation and the Federation of Electric Power Companies. Huge amounts were collected from affiliated companies, and then Keidanren distributed the donations through the National Political Association to political parties including the Liberal Democratic Party and the now-disbanded Democratic Socialist Party.

Compared with that setup, the new mechanism is designed to give Nippon Keidanren only a minor role. The act of mediation is indirect, and the independent judgments of companies and industrial organizations are respected. It is a soft, moderate and transparent form of mediation.

In practice, however, the possibility exists that the business world may try to see its goals realized by having Nippon Keidanren unify and channel donations exclusively to those parties that accept its demands — not only in such areas as tax reform and industrial policies but also in diplomatic, defense and security areas. If that happened, the new donation mechanism would be little different from the old one, in which the business world managed donations in a unified manner.

The business world in postwar Japan has a history of privately and publicly influencing political events, including the 1955 merger of the Liberal Party and the Japan Democratic Party to form the LDP and the selection of prime ministers. As a weapon to further its purpose, it supplied abundant funds to parties and individual politicians.

At present, donations by companies and industrial organizations to individual politicians are prohibited by law, and it is unknown just how much influence the business circles now have. But it can be expected that the business world will call for the establishment of a stable "two-party system" that enables governmental change between two major parties, and will actively participate in political realignment.

Both politically and economically, stagnation grips Japan as it never has before in the postwar period. The business world is becoming increasingly irritated and frustrated with the government's structural reform plans, which have yet to produce any fruit. The resumption of mediation in political donations can help make a breakthrough in this impasse.

The Japan Times:
January 16, 2003
(C) All rights reserved

      日本経団連は最大の財界組織であり、カネの力による政治への介入に一定の自己規制をする必要がある。

      企業は、国民が必要とする製品やサービスを提供して生活に役立ち、雇用を創出しているが、利益を追求する企業の本質は変わらない。

      最近では牛肉偽装事件や自動車の欠陥隠しが関係企業のイメージを傷つけた。企業は市民社会のルールに従って行動せねばならない。日本経団連が会員企業による政治献金の斡旋を再開するに当たり、この点について立場をはっきりさせる必要がある。

      日本経団連は、加盟企業、業界団体が政治献金をする場合の指針を作る予定である。指針は、各政党の政策の良し悪しなどを検証し、企業、団体はそれに基づいて独自に献金の対象、金額について決定し、日本経団連は献金を斡旋する。

      旧経団連は1993年まで一定の献金額を日本鉄鋼連盟、電気事業連合会などの業界団体に割り当て、「国民政治協会」を通じ献金していた。

      新方式では、日本経団連は単に献金を斡旋するだけで、各企業、団体の判断が尊重される。しかし、実際には、日本経団連が企業献金の対象を財界の要求を受け入れる政党に限る可能性がある。税制改革、産業政策ばかりでなく、外交、防衛、国防にまで注文をつけるとなると、状況は以前と同じだ。

      戦後、財界は政党、政治家に対する献金を通じ、1955年の日本民主党と自由党の保守合同による自民党の成立を始めとし、首相の選任を含め政治に大きな影響を与えてきた。

      財界は安定的「2大政党制」を求め政界再編に積極的に参加しようとしている。

      日本は、政治的、経済的に行き詰まり、財界は小泉政権の構造改革計画が一向に進展しないことにいらだっている。日本経団連の政治献金斡旋の再開は、この状況を打開する可能性がある。

The Japan Times Weekly
January 25, 2003
(C) All rights reserved