LDP brass given 7.8 million yen in illegal donations from constructor

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

LDP brass given 7.8 million yen in illegal donations from constructor

Not only Democratic Party President Ozawa Ichiro but also a Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight may have received illegal donations from the scandal-tainted Nishimatsu Construction Co.

Akahata on March 9 learned that two political action groups of Nishimatsu, reportedly dummies, had provided 7.8 million yen in political donations between 1995 and 1998 to a fund management organization of Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Nikai Toshihiro, ex-chairman of the LDP General Council.

At the time of accepting the suspicious donations, Nikai was Ozawa's closest aide in the now-defunct New Frontier Party.

The Political Funds Control Law prohibits political donations from being made under fictitious names. Like Ozawa, Nikai is also suspected of having violated the law if he knew that the donations from the two dummy groups were from the builder.

However, Nikai's parliamentary office told Akahata that it does not answer any questions from another party's organ paper.

So then, Japanese Communist Party Yamashita Yoshiki used his question time in the House of Councilors Budget Committee meeting on March 9 to ask Nikai whether or not he had received the money from Nishimatsu.

Nikai answered, "I don't know anything about it."

Yamashita said, "A source from Nishimatsu reportedly confessed that the company had handed over a total of about 60 million yen in cash to influential LDP lawmakers for more than a decade. Isn't this something that the government should investigate?"

Prime Minister Aso Taro, however, replied, "I will neither comment on one particular media report nor conduct any investigation."

Yamashita criticized the prime minister's attitude for increasing public distrust of politicians.

- Akahata, March 10, 2009