Patrick Harlan (54), known as Pakkun from the comedy duo “Pakkun Makkun,” appeared on Fuji TV’s information program “Mezamashi 8” (Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m.) on the 27th. He commented on the suspicion of violation of the Public Offices Election Act surrounding Governor Motohiko Saito (47), who was re-elected in the Hyogo Prefectural gubernatorial election. The CEO of a PR company that supported Saito in the gubernatorial election proposed a social media strategy for Saito’s election campaign on Note, a service for publishing texts and photos. He wrote, “I was put in charge of all public relations.” Under the Public Offices Election Act, those who can be paid remuneration for election activities are limited to office staff, campaign workers, sign language interpreters, etc. In an interview, Saito denied the allegations, saying, “I believe there is no possibility of violating the Public Offices Election Act.” He said, “We paid about 700,000 yen to the PR company in production costs.” Regarding why the contract with the PR company was an oral agreement, he replied, “I have left it to my lawyer to handle, so I think they will be checking with me.” Mr. Saito’s lawyer says this is the fifth time he has asked the PR company to create posters and other materials. Regarding the 700,000 yen, Pakkun said, “I think it was probably a bank transfer, but what does the invoice and receipt for the transfer say? I think evidence will come out after this, but from a common sense perspective, it doesn’t feel strange at all that there isn’t a contract,” he said, adding, “Every year, I ask a tax accountant to prepare my tax return, but it’s a verbal agreement. Sometimes when something is broken at home and we need them to do plumbing work, that is also a verbal contract. I also have verbal contracts worth hundreds of thousands of yen,” he said about himself. He added, “However, as the most visible politician in Japan right now, from the perspective of risk management, I think he was a little careless in not having a contract, and I think he probably thinks now that he should have made a proper contract to avoid any problems later on.” Fuji Television News Department commentator Susumu Kazama responded, “I completely unexpected that Pakkun would be able to settle so many things with verbal agreements right now. “When I think of oral contracts, the only thing that comes to mind is an illegal part-time job,” he said in surprise.
>>1 Public Offices Election Act…Poster production costs are covered by public funds Saito Motohiko…That’s right. We paid about 700,000 yen for the poster production costs. 🤪.
The regulations are detailed to get rid of people who are inconvenient for existing political parties. Even the ban on door-to-door canvassing, which is in textbooks, is ridiculous.
I think there’s a difference between an accountant who you hire every year and a one-off case like this one. Either way, there should be records of the meetings, so if a serious investigation is launched, it will become clear who is the main culprit.
Governor Saito is innocent of all charges of power harassment and other violations. Current laws simply haven’t caught up with the man who will become the president of Japan.
I don’t think Pakkun is right, but I think Kazama’s analogy of an oral contract = illegal part-time job is a pretty malicious misleading one. It’s a typical example of old media bias.
Even if we don’t go as far as signing a contract, with an amount this large, wouldn’t it be better to document it in writing, such as in a quote or email?
Apparently the LDP has someone who will make a contract, and they’ll include a confidentiality agreement. The Public Offices Election Act has a lot of ambiguity and gray areas, so if they don’t do that, it’ll be bad if someone talks too much.
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