Japan Times Weekly Digital Reader ジャパン タイムズ ウィークリー ロゴ   Japan Times Weekly Digital Reader
 
UPDATE: Saturday, June 12, 2010      The Japan Times Weekly    2010年3月13日号 (バックナンバー)
 
 News
 Contact us
 Search
Google
WWW を検索
サイト内を検索
 Affiliated sites


Political funding scandals keep coming to Democratic Party
(From The Japan Times March 5 issue)

 


要約
民主党に政治資金問題の衝撃再び

Another political funds scandal linked to a Democratic Party of Japan figure has come to light. On March 1, four trade union members were arrested on suspicion of violating the Political Funds Control Law with regard to donations allegedly received by the election campaign office of DPJ Lower House member Chiyomi Kobayashi. It is an unwanted blow for a party already suffering from funds scandals involving Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa.

Arrested were three senior members of the Hokkaido Teachers Union, part of the Japan Teachers Union (Nikkyoso), and a member of the All Japan Prefectural and Municipal Workers Union (Jichiro) who served as chief accountant for Ms. Kobayashi's campaign office. It is suspected that between December 2008 and July 2009, four donations of ¥4 million were made by the three teachers union members to the chief accountant of Ms. Kobayashi's campaign. The Political Funds Control Law allows a labor union to make donations to a political party, a party branch or a politician's funds management body, but not to a campaign office.

Labor unions are an important part of the DPJ's political machine, and Nikkyoso backs a number of DPJ lawmakers. The arrests could hurt the DPJ's performance in the coming Upper House election by slowing the unions' campaign activities.

In the August 2009 Lower House election, Ms. Kobayashi beat former Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimrua of the Liberal Democratic Party in Hokkaido's No. 5 constituency (Mr. Machimura maintained a seat in the Lower House, however, through proportional representation). In October, an official of Japan's largest labor organization, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), who had played a leading role in managing Ms. Kobayashi's election campaign, was arrested on suspicion of promising to give money to some 30 people if they made telephone calls to solicit votes for Ms. Kobayashi — an act that violates the Public Offices Election Law.

If it is to prevent public distrust from deepening, the DPJ must get to the bottom of the situations involving Mr. Ozawa and Ms. Kobayashi, and make public the results of its investigations.

The Japan Times Weekly: March 13, 2010
(C) All rights reserved
 

民主党・小林議員の選挙事務所に不正な選挙資金を提供した政治資金規正法違反容疑で、北海道教職員組合幹部らが逮捕され、鳩山首相、小沢幹事長を巡る疑惑に続く同党の火種となった。

逮捕されたのは北教組幹部3名と、小林氏陣営の会計担当である自治労役員だ。幹部らは2008年12月から昨年年7月に4回にわたり計1600万円を受け渡した疑いが持たれている。政治資金規正法では、労働組合から政党や政治資金管理団体以外への献金を禁じている。

日教組など労組から支援を受けている民主党議員も多い。参院選前の逮捕が民主党に悪影響を及ぼす恐れがある。民主党は小沢幹事長と小林議員の疑惑の真相を探り、調査結果を国民に知らせるべきだ。

The Japan Times

Main Page | Japan Times Online | Subscribe | link policy | privacy policy

Copyright  The Japan Times. All rights reserved.