Political and moral responsibility of prime minister for aide called into question

Japan Press Weekly

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

Political and moral responsibility of prime minister for aide called into question

The Tokyo District Court on April 22 found Katsuba Keiji, a former aide to Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio, guilty of falsifying political funds reports, sentencing him to a two-year prison term with 3 years suspension of sentence. The political and moral responsibility of the prime minister, who has denied his involvement in this scandal, is being called into question.

The Political Funds Control Law requires politicians to publicly disclose all information related to their political funds in order to maintain the transparency of political activities and healthy development of democracy. Political funds reports must be accurate in order to abide by this law.

Prime Minister Hatoyama expressed his intention to submit to the Diet information related to the Katsuba scandal during the March 31 Diet discussions, saying, “After the court makes a final judgment, I will have my lawyer examine it and release information in accordance with the Political Funds Control Law.” However, on April 21, he claimed in the Diet that he does not recognize the need to submit such information.

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan is reluctant to try to bring matters to light although not only party head Hatoyama but also General Secretary Ozawa Ichiro and House of Representatives member Kobayashi Chiyomi have been involved in similar scandals.

The Hatoyama Cabinet has continuously broken election promises made by the DPJ in regard to crucial domestic and diplomatic issues. If it tries to draw the curtain closed on this scandal, it will show that no difference exist between itself and the former government led by the Liberal Democratic Party.

- Akahata, April 23, 2010