Diversion of Gift Certificate Scandal

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba kept on being grilled in the Diet discussion on his distribution of gift certificates to young lawmakers in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Although it was questioned whether Ishiba had violated the law for regulating political funds, the issue diverged into ethical problem of LDP lawmakers in dealing with pocket money or the same kind of activities of former prime ministers. It looks unlikely that the scandal causes resignation of Ishiba.

Ishiba admitted that he distributed gift certificates, as souvenir worth 100,000 yen, to fifteen attendees of meeting he hosted on March 3rd. The recipients were LDP lawmakers of House of Representatives, who had been elected for the first time in the October election last year. It was doubted that the distribution would consist of donation related to political activity to individual politician, which was prohibited by Political Funds Control Act.

 

Ishiba’s strategy to deal with the issue was to firmly deny illegality of the distribution of souvenir. He kept on answering to the questions on the nature of the meeting that it had not been a political activity, because, he insisted, he had not talk with those young lawmakers about politics. Even though there remains a question that conversations between politicians are not fundamentally related to politics, Ishiba kept the line that it had not been political.

 

Ishiba, on the other hand, frankly apologized on his indifference of sentiment of the people against political funds. Although it may be usual for the people to give souvenirs for attendees of meeting, the price of 100,000 yen was too luxurious for ordinary people to accept. “Being in this position (lawmaker) for nearly forty years, there must be some kind of gap between me and the people,” said Ishiba with a sense of regret.

 

During Ishiba was focusing on defending himself, the issue started showing other aspects. It was reported that Ishiba’s predecessor, Fumio Kishida, distributed gift certificates worth 100,000 yen, to the attendees of a meeting at Prime Minister’s Official Residence in 2022. Multiple LDP lawmakers, who had been elected in 2012, revealed that they received gift certificates from former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. It is possible that souvenir of gift certificate from prime minister had usually been handed out for these ten years or so.

 

Minister of Justice, Keisuke Suzuki, who was firstly elected in 2005, told in a Diet Discussion that he had heard a story that gift certificates of tailoring business suit had been distributed to the opposition lawmakers, when the administration faced a gridlock in the Diet with firm opposition from the opposition powers. The opposition parties could be involved in the circulation of gift certificates, if Suzuki’s story was true.

 

Unexpectedly fortunate for Ishiba, the issue has been emerging to be something not about crime of a prime minister, but about politician’s management of pocket money, regardless prime ministers, LDP lawmakers or opposition members. Ishiba is considering to make explanation about the souvenir in Political Ethics Council in the Diet, accepting request from the opposition parties. But he is likely to make the same argument in the council as he has already made in the Diet discussion.