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2018 May 16 - 22 [POLITICS]

Ehime Prefecture’s records cast suspicion on PM Abe about false statement regarding Kake veterinary school

The Ehime Prefectural government on May 21 submitted to the House of Councilors Budget Committee records of its meetings with officials of the Cabinet Office and with the Kake Gakuen school corporation. One of the records shows that Prime Minister Abe met with Kake president Kake Kotaro on February 25, 2015 in which he expressed his support for the school corporation’s plan to open a new veterinary school.

PM Abe in the Diet continued to repeat that on January 20, 2017, he was informed for the first time of Kake’s new veterinary school plan. Suspicions are growing that PM Abe made blatantly false statements.

What Ehime Prefecture presented were records kept by prefectural government officials who had meetings between February 2015 and April 2015 with the then Executive Secretary to PM Abe Yanase Tadao, Kake Gakuen executives, and Imabari City officials.

Among the records, there was a report given by Kake Gakuen officials that school corporation president Kake Kotaro had a 15-minute meeting with PM Abe on February 25, 2015. According to the school corporation, in the meeting, Kake explained to PM Abe about the plan to open a new veterinary school in Imabari City. When Kake said that a new school seeks to provide global-level education in veterinary science, PM Abe said, “An animal medicine school of that kind is nice.”

Meanwhile, PM Abe has made remarks conflicting with the prefectural government documents.

At a House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting on July 24, 2017, the prime minister asserted that he has never been notified by the Kake president of a proposal for a new veterinary school in Imabari City. On April 11, at a Lower House Budget Committee meeting, PM Abe declared that he has never been asked by Kake for advice or a favor regarding the new school.

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira on May 21 in the Diet building said to the press that the Ehime prefectural government's Kake Gakuen report is significant as it will add to the pressure being exerted to have PM Abe resign.

Koike pointed out that that document verifies that the February 25, 2015, the Abe-Kake meeting was the starting point of the proposed veterinary medicine institution project. It is obvious that the project was carried out in line with PM Abe’s intent, Koike stressed. He added, “The need now is to have Kake and Yanase testify under oath before the Diet. It is also necessary to call Ehime Governor Nakamura Tokihiro as an unsworn witness.”

Past related articles:
> Yanase unwittingly highlights Abe’s involvement in ‘Kake’ scandal [May 11, 2018]
> Notes taken by Ehime Pref. official: Kake Gakuen new faculty is matter of interest to Prime Minister [April 11, 2018]