The House of Councilors on Wednesday passed a new antigraft law that expands the scope of illegal deeds by politicians and their state-paid secretaries but nevertheless leaves several loopholes.
The coalition parties had submitted the bill to soothe a public uproar that followed the arrest in June of former Construction Minister Eiichi Nakao for allegedly taking bribes from a construction company.
But it provides no penalties for bribes given to a third party, such as a private secretary, instead of to the politician.