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On March 10, debate took place in the Committee on Budget in the House of Councillors, and DPJ Diet member Kenzo Fujisue made a speech, putting questions to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, Minister of Finance Naoto Kan and Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Kazuo Haraguchi.
Fujisue touched on remarks made by Kan last year to the effect that the tax breaks should be introduced to increase political donations made by individuals, and asked the Minister to explain his thinking as to what measures should be taken in future.
Kan said that the current method of providing an exemption for donations was insufficient. He explained that this method was based partly on an income exemption and partly on an exemption on the amount of tax paid, but that only 30% of the total tax paid was exempt, and went on to add, “If we set the limit too high there will be problems, but we will make sums of up to 100,000 yen, or perhaps 50,000 yen, tax-exempt. For sums larger than this, it may be desirable to introduce some kind of limit on the amount [which can be donated]”
Fujisue went on to ask Hatoyama, “Shouldn’t candidates be able to use the Internet to transmit opinions during the campaign period?”
Hatoyama responded, “I am basically in agreement with your opinion. If we use the Internet, it will be easier for young people to participate in politics. We can also open the path toward a less costly way of campaigning. Moreover, we can use [the Internet] to gather donations,” expressing the opinion that we are now in an era where the ban on Internet campaigning must be lifted. Hatoyama added, “It is something that will change the base of election campaign activities, and so of course, rather than the government taking the lead in deciding on the content [of legislation] I would like the various parties to discuss the matter, engaging in debate with a sense of urgency so as to reach a conclusion by the next election.”
Next, Fujisue suggested to Minister Haraguchi that, as a device to encourage the younger generation to vote, “At the last general election 47 polling stations were situated at locations such as in front of train stations or in shopping malls, and I wonder whether you might consider increasing the number of such polling stations 10 times to around 500 or so for the next House of Councillors election.”
Haraguchi responded, “Under the Public Office Election Law, polling stations for early voting can be situated in locations prescribed by the city or village hall or by the election administration committees of local authorities. In the budget for fiscal 2010, we are proposing to increase funding for such locations by around 3.2 billion yen, or 24%, but I would like to consider whether this can be increased.”
Fujisue ended his speech by saying, “I would like [the government] to introduce examples of such polling station locations to the various election administration committees, and to strongly promote the spread of such practices, as well as informing them that budget funding has been provided for them.”
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