LDP to Drop Plan to Keep Some Political Expenses Secret

Tokyo, Dec. 16 (Jiji Press)--Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party has decided to drop a plan to allow some political expenditures to be kept secret, in the face of strong opposition from opposition parties, it was learned Monday.

The LDP will exclude the plan from its bill to revise the political funds control law, with the aim of passing it through the House of Representatives as early as Tuesday.

The plan was to allow political parties to keep undisclosed details of certain expenditures, including those involving diplomatic secrets, in exchange for abolishing the controversial "policy activity fund" system.

On Friday, the LDP proposed that the plan be attached to the bill, rather than included in it, but the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and others demanded that it be removed entirely.

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[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]