Secretaries of Lawmakers in Scandal Is Investigated Again

Tokyo Fifth Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution decided that the decision of Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office not to prosecute secretaries for two lawmakers who were involved in the slush fund scandal in the Liberal Democratic Party was inappropriate, and demanded reinvestigation on them. The opposition parties agreed on making effort to pass a bill of revising Political Funds Control Act by the end of this year. The impact of the scandal remains in the politics in Japan.

There are 201 committees for the inquest of prosecution in Japan. Each of them examines whether or not a disposition of non-prosecution made by public prosecutors is appropriate. If a committee considers the non-prosecution as inappropriate, it sends a report to the district prosecutors office and the office needs to make reinvestigate and decide whether the matter should be indicted or not.

 

Tokyo Fifth Committee concluded on October 9th that a decision of Special Investigation Division of Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office not to indict a secretary for a member of the House of Councillors, Hiroshige Seko, who received kickback from former Abe faction was inappropriate. Seko left the LDP in April, after the LDP punished him with recommendation of leaving party when the party found that he received 15.42 million yen of the kickback fund. Seko ran in the general election of the House of Representatives in October and achieved a seat in Wakayama 2ndelectoral district.

 

Recognizing accountability of Seko’s secretary for receiving excessively large amount of money, the committee concluded that he needed to take responsibility in the criminal case. “He continued that crime of violating Political Funds Control Act for many years without consulting with Seko,” said the committee.

 

The committee made a decision on October 23rd that non-prosecution for a secretary of a member of House of Representatives, Koichi Hagiuda, former Chairman of LDP Policy Research Council, was also inappropriate. Hagiuda received penalty of one-year suspension of any party leader’s position, being found that he received 27.28 million yen of the fund.

 

The secretary was the supervisor of Hagiuda’s office in the Diet and in charge of selling the tickets of fundraising parties of former Abe faction. “The secretary intensively did not tell his boss everything about report of funds,” said the Committee, also referring to the great amount of money.

 

The committee did not find non-prosecution for Seko and Hagiuda to be inappropriate. Hagiuda managed to secure his seat in the general election in Tokyo 24th district.

 

Contemplating the slush fund scandal as a main issue for them to counter the leading coalition, which lost its majority in the general election, the leaders of opposition parties, the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDPJ) and the Democratic Party for the People (DPP), agreed on cooperating for passing revised Political Funds Control Act within this year. Although DPP has been reluctant in prohibiting donation from corporations and organizations to parties, its leader, Yuichiro Tamaki, announced that his party would approve it, if all other opposition parties would join.

 

It is likely that political reform stemming from the scandal will remain as a main issue in coming sessions of the Diet.

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