October 9, 2011
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2011 October 5 - 11 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]
FEPC helps utilities purchase politicians’ fund-raising party tickets |
Established in 1952, the Federation of Electric Power Companies (FEPC) consists of 10 power companies across the nation. Since the 1970s, in order to promote nuclear power generation, FEPC has focused on imprinting a good image of nuclear energy. Among 17 successive FEPC chairs, eight were from TEPCO.
Takemoto Naokazu is a Liberal Democratic Party member of the House of Representatives who used to serve as Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Akahata reported that Takemoto hosted his fundraising parties eleven times between January 2007 and January 2009 and that the nine companies paid a total of 4 million yen for tickets.
The cost of tickets in June 2007, for example, was collected by FEPC from the utilities.
As an organization representing the interests of the public utilities, FEPC has been engaging in promoting the purchase of specific politicians’ fund-raising party tickets. It constitutes a critical problem in regard to the public interest.
A FEPCO official refused to comment to an Akahata inquiry.
A person close to the industry said to Akahata, “Overall, all the power companies often buy party tickets of all LDP Dietmembers. Takemoto is just one of them.”
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Blind spot in Political Funds Control Act
Power companies have ostensibly voluntarily refrained from making political donations since 1974 on the grounds that it is inappropriate for public utilities to do so. Instead, executives of each power company systematically make donations in the guise of personal donations.
LDP Takemoto Naokazu is a bureaucrat-turned politician from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism. He now represents the interests of the construction industry. He also protects the interests of the banking industry as he had extensive experience in the Lower House Financial Affairs Committee.
He once served as METI’s vice minister, but reportedly had no deep connection with the NPP-related industry. The revelation this time shed light on his receiving of four million yen in two years from the electricity industry. However, this is said to be just the tip of the iceberg. No doubt the deep-pocketed industry conducts such political maneuvering to exert its influence on the political arena.
The industry skillfully uses a blind spot in the Political Funds Control Act for the purpose of continuing making political donations.
The law requires political fund managers to report donors’ names only if they make more than 50,000 yen in donations a year. As to the purchase of fund-raising party tickets, the law exempts the fund managers from reporting the purchase of less than 200,000 yen per party.
Purchases of tickets amounting to less than 200,000 yen per party allow the power companies to continue providing donations to politicians or their fund managing organizations while claiming to be putting a voluntary ban on corporate donations.
In short, the tickets the power companies bought for Takemoto’s parties are, in effect, corporate donations.
According to the data Akahata obtained, although the utilities buy several 20,000-yen tickets for each party, only one person actually attends, and often no one attends.
To an Akahata inquiry, all power companies avoided giving a clear answer to the question concerning the suspicious donations. A Hokkaido Electric Power company’s spokesperson answered, “We sometimes buy party tickets within the socially accepted, reasonable amounts, but I’m afraid I can’t comment on individual cases.”
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