Tapping Governor Is Questioned by Assembly

Hyogo Local Assembly established a special committee to examine a case in which a director of Hyogo Prefecture killed himself leaving a document of accusing the Governor of Hyogo, Motohiko Saito, of his receive of gifts or harassment on his staffs. The committee decided to pick the document as evidence. The question here is why the director’s whistle-blowing was not heard. 

The director distributed assembly members and press organizations a document in March, which indicated the governor’s inappropriate acceptance of gifts from business firms after he requested them or loudly blaming the governor’s staff when he was dropped off from the car with twenty meters distance from the entrance of destination.

 

The governor labeled the director’s accusation as lies and condemned him as unfit for a public worker. The government of Hyogo prefecture officially disciplined the director with penalty of three-month suspension from his job. However, the local assembly of Hyogo established the special committee, based on Article 100 of the Local Autonomy Act, doubting impartiality of the discipline. Although the director was invited to the hearing of the committee, he was found dead before that. He is supposed to have committed suicide.

 

Article 100 of the Local Autonomy Act determines that a local assembly have power to investigate the government of municipality which people they represent. If a witness rejects to appear to the special committee without legitimate reason, he/she will be legally punished. It is recognized as the greatest power of local assembly against local government.

 

Hyogo Local Assembly convened the special committee on July 19, to which the director had been supposed to appear and testify. The committee decided to employ the statement the director prepared for his testimony. It revealed that the governor requested a bottle of wine produced in a town in Hyogo prefecture in 2022. Saito admitted that he tasted the wine at his home, and the mayor of the town told in his press conference that he sent two bottles of wine to the governor.

 

The Whistle-blower Protection Act of 2004 protects a worker, who legitimately reported actions of business operator damaging public interest, from disadvantageous treatment. The biggest question in the case of Hyogo is why the director was not protected, even though his accusation against the governor should be treated as a whistle-blowing. While criticisms against the governor is spreading, Saito keeps on saying that he would not step down.

 

The case may affect national politics. The Liberal Democratic Party and Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin no Kai) supported Saito in the gubernatorial election in 2021. The local leader of LDP recommended Saito to make “a right decision,” effectively demanded resignation. Ishin has made no obvious action on the issue, being afraid of further damage on the party. The scandal in Hyogo may cause some decline of Ishin’s power in the Kansai region.

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