Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2009 June 10 - 16 [POLITICS]

Shii criticizes DPJ for evading questions about Nishimatsu scandal involving Ozawa

An expert panel set up by the Democratic Party of Japan virtually confirmed ex-DPJ President Ozawa Ichiro’s claim to innocence in the scandal in which his secretary had been indicted on the charge of violating the Political Funds Control Law by receiving donations from Nishimatsu Construction Co. The panel concluded, “Mr. Ozawa has sufficiently fulfilled his responsibility in explaining the issue.”

The DPJ’s “Third-party Commission on Responses of Politics and Prosecutors, and Media Coverage Regarding Issues of Political Funds” on June 10 submitted the final report to DPJ Secretary General Okada Katsuya.

The report criticizes the Tokyo Public Prosecutors’ Office for its “inappropriate methods of investigation” and the media for their coverage, although it admitted that Ozawa’s explanation had not been adequate. It makes public the findings of a hearing conducted on May 20 from Ozawa, quoting Ozawa as stating, “I have done nothing wrong in my dealings with political funds. I did all that I should do” regarding personal accountability.

Asked by reporters to comment on the report, Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on June 11 said, “There is nothing in there but criticism of prosecutors and media. It does not answer any of the questions the public wants answered.”

On the point that the report insisted that the prosecutors had arrested Ozawa’s secretary “for violating the law”, Shii said, “The Political Funds Control Law is aimed at making political funds transparent. It will be the major issue affecting the foundation of the law if the donations in question were made to Ozawa using a constructor’s political action group as the conduit.”

Shii also said. “The DPJ left all the task of fact-finding, which the DPJ itself should have done, to the third-party panel, and tried to close the curtain on the allegation with the panel report. This does not mean at all that the DPJ has fulfilled its responsibility as a political party. The JCP will keep demanding that the DPJ and Ozawa meet their obligations to make convincing explanations.”