Cash-rich DP carried over 12.5b yen from 2016 budget

December 1, 2017

Tokyo- The opposition Democratic Party left unused 12,472 million yen in its 2016 budget and carried it over to this year, according to political funds reports disclosed by the internal affairs ministry on Thursday.

The carryover funds accounted for over half of the party's revenues of 24,682 million yen in calendar 2016, which included such funds from the preceding year.

The DP lost its status as the largest opposition force in the House of Representatives after many of its Lower House members defected to two new parties--the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Party of Hope--ahead of the Oct. 22 general election.

But the DP is believed to be still well funded, having received 2.1 billion yen in state subsidies for October. It currently has about 7 billion yen in reserves, according to a senior party member.

Total revenues at all reporting parties and political funds management groups came to 108,025 million yen, down 2,200 million yen from 2015, according to the funds reports.

Excluding carryover funds, total revenues at party headquarters decreased 6.2 pct year on year to 73,755 million yen. Of the total, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party accounted for 24,127 million yen, down 6.3 percent, staying in the top position for four years in a row following its return to power.

Expenditures at all political groups, meanwhile, increased 7 billion yen in 2016 due to the House of Councillors election in July.

Spending totaled 22,043 million yen at the LDP, up 11.2 percent, 21,880 million yen at the Japanese Communist Party, down 7.3 percent, 13,602 million yen at Komeito, the LDP's junior coalition partner, up 5.9 percent, and 12,210 million yen at the DP, up some 40 percent. Jiji Press