Japan Press Weekly

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2018 March 7 - 13 TOP3 [POLITICS]

Opposition parties will pursue gov't responsibility for deleting from official records Abe's wife involvement in state-owned land sale to 'Moritomo Gakuen'

Six opposition parties, including the Japanese Communist Party, on March 12 agreed to cooperate in demanding the summoning of persons involved in the falsification of official documents regarding the "Moritomo Gakuen" land deal as well as of those whose involvement was mentioned in the original documents.

The six parties also confirmed that they will together look into government responsibility for the falsification.

Prior to the six-party decision, the Ministry of Finance admitted to having altered documents pertaining to the state-owned land sale to the school corporation Moritomo. The ministry deleted the names of Prime Minister Abe's wife Akie along with several conservative politicians in addition to the descriptions of her involvement in the land deal.

Following the ministry's admission, the JCP and five other opposition parties (Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Democratic Party, Party of Hope, Liberal Party, and Social Democratic Party) held a secretaries-general meeting in the Diet building.

The representatives of the six parties confirmed that they will demand the appearance of Abe's wife and Sagawa Nobuhisa, who recently resigned as Commissioner of the National Tax Agency over the land deal scandal, as sworn witnesses.

They said that this is something that cannot just be ended by putting all the blame on the bureaucrat, and that the Abe government itself bears an extremely heavy responsibility and so should make clear who doctored the official records and who ordered that to be done.

JCP Secretariat Head Koike in the meeting said, "The executive branch has deceived the legislative authority throughout the past year after the Moritomo Gakuen scandal came to light. The Cabinet should resign en masse."

After the six-party meeting, Koike told reporters that PM Abe is a completely irresponsible person and criticized Abe for intending to keep Finance Minister Aso Taro in office despite the ministry's malfeasance.

Koike said, "The center of concern is the role played by PM Abe and his wife. Abe cannot get away by simply shifting the blame on the Finance Ministry."

Regarding the ministry's admission that the documents in question were doctored "after late February last year", Koike said, "The biggest point of Diet debate around that time was whether Abe's wife had a part in the discounted land deal. In all likelihood, the ministry tried to cover up her association with the school operator. The testimony of the parties concerned is a must."

Past related article:
> Taxpayers: Tax agency head who gives false testimony in Diet should be ousted! [February 17, 2018]