SDP lawmaker quits over allegations but refuses to discuss specifics

Accused of the alleged illegal use of tax money intended for her secretary, Social Democratic Party lawmaker Tsujimoto Kiyomi on March 26 announced that she was resigning from the Diet.

At a news conference Tsujimoto, former SDP policy board head, refused to answer reporters' questions concerning specifics of the allegations.
The resignation announcement came after initial resistance to calls for her voluntary resignation from the Diet. She had even been reluctant to accept the SDP leadership's suggestion that she quit immediately.

She also refused to leave the party.

In a 15-minute press conference, Tsujimoto apologized for "making mistakes" in the statement she made on March 20, but she did not apologize for the alleged misuse of most of the salary paid to a secretary she employed.

Commenting on her resignation at a news conference on the same day, Fudesaka Hideyo, Japanese Communist Party acting Secretariat head said that in light of Tsujimoto's serious political and ethical misconduct, it is quite natural that she quit.

He said, "Tsujimoto may have violated the Law to Regulate Money Used for Political Activities by using a bogus secretary, which is a clear fraud."

Asked how the JCP would deal with the suspicions involving Dietmembers Suzuki Muneo and Kato Koichi, who quit the LDP, Fudesaka said, "They must resign; Suzuki for his alleged interference in the government's overseas assistance programs and the '2-track diplomacy' which he led that conflicted with the government policy on the territorial dispute with Russia, and Kato for the suspected use of his influence as a former LDP secretary general." (end)