2010 January 6 - 12 [
POLITICS]
Ozawa fails to respond to public questions
- Akahata editorial
|
January 7, 2010
Rikuzankai, a fund management body of Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ozawa Ichiro, drew media attention for its controversial land purchase. The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office has questioned DPJ House of Representatives member Ishikawa Tomohiro, who was in charge of clerical work at the fund management body, as well as Ozawa’s close aide Okubo Takanori, and has reportedly started investigating several major construction firms.
In regard to the disclosure of the uncovered fact of where the vast amount of political funds came from, Ozawa himself has not provided sufficient explanation to clear allegations of his involvement. The truth must be revealed before the public.
Where the fund originated uncovered
In 2004, Rikuzankai bought land in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward for 340 million yen, but the purchase was not recorded in its political funds report. It stated in the next year’s report that it borrowed 400 million yen from a financial body with collateral of 400 million yen in a time deposit. However, the land purchase took place before the transaction with the financial body.
According to the source, at the end of last year Ishikawa admitted to failing to properly record the land purchase in the report and told prosecutors that the money for the land purchase came from Ozawa. It would be a major crime for a politician to put false information in a political funds report.
What is more, media since late last year have reported that Rikuzankai during the period before and after the land deal collected hundreds of millions of yen (millions of dollars) via political organizations associated with Ozawa. His financial report mentions nothing about where the money came from.
Similarly, it has been revealed that there was a manipulation of huge amounts of funds via more than one political action group the year after the land deal in question. This was missing from the financial report.
Questions remain unanswered regarding the relations between the unaccounted funds and the money that Ishikawa said he borrowed from Ozawa. There was a report that stated that Rikuzankai paid 400 million yen to Ozawa. This money could be the repayment of money to Ozawa. The question is why that huge amount of money was transferred in that manner?
Basically how he collected the great sum of funds remain unsettled.
It has been pointed out that Ozawa may have received huge amounts of cash donations from large construction companies. It is also said that billions of yen in political funds, which Ozawa may have accumulated by the repeated dissolution and founding of political parties, each accepting government subsidies, is missing. Since he left the Liberal Democratic Party, Ozawa founded the Japan Renewal Party (Shinseito), the New Frontier Party (Shinshinto), the Liberal Party (Jiyuto), and the present Democratic Party (Minshuto).
Ozawa must explain the money flow and sources of his fundraising.
Ban corporate donations
Ozawa is suspected of accepting donations from Nishimatsu Construction Ltd. by disguising them as donations provided by individual persons. In connection with these allegedly illegal transactions, his secretary Okubo was arrested for his involvement in the illegal donations.
Similar illegal fund donations related to the government’s public works projects involving major construction firms have been revealed one after another. And yet Ozawa refuses to explain anything.
Ozawa must respond to all these allegations. Also, as the secretary general of the ruling Democratic Party, he must earnestly work in the Diet to carry out his promise to ban political fund donations from corporations and organizations.
- Akahata, January 7, 2010
