Japan Press Weekly

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2014 January 15 - 21 [TOKYO]

Masuzoe’s party illegally used state subsidies to pay back its loan

The political party formed by a former welfare minister, who is planning to run in February’s Tokyo gubernatorial race with the support of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, allegedly spent its party subsidies in paying back its loan against the law, reported Akahata on January 21.

Ex-Welfare Minister Masuzoe Yoichi in 2010 left the LDP and formed the New Renaissance Party (NRP). Political funding reports indicate that the NRP borrowed a total of 250 million yen from a bank in 2010 and paid it back by 2012. Masuzoe served as a representative of the party during the same time period.

The NRP’s annual income was about 150 million yen on average. About 120 million yen of that yearly income, or about 80%, was from the party subsidy from taxpayers’ money.

The Political Party Subsidies Law bans parties from using the subsidy to repay outstanding debts. It would have been impossible for the NRP to clear up a debt of 250 million yen within three years with its income after subtracting the subsidy.

According to the survey by Akahata, the NRP gave a large amount of money to its two chapters represented by Masuzoe and NRP legislator Arai Hiroyuki. Supposedly, almost all of the money was from the political subsidy. Part of those “grants” headed back to the party headquarters via the two politicians’ fund-management bodies.

Kamiwaki Hiroshi, a professor at the graduate school of Kobe Gakuin University, said, “The NRP allotted the subsidies for the payment of its loan after laundering them. It is a shrewd and devious trick.”

In response to Akahata’s inquiry, the NRP said that it properly used its grants in accordance with the law. Masuzoe and his office gave no answer by a deadline set by Akahata.