The proportional representation overlap of 43 lawmakers with secret funds was not recognized， and Hagiuda and six others declared themselves unofficial prime ministers．
On the 6th, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (President of the Liberal Democratic Party) announced that 43 current Diet members and branch chiefs (excluding those who have announced their retirement) who were not listed in the faction political fundraising party slush fund scandal will not be allowed to run in the proportional representation seats in the next House of Representatives election (announced on the 15th, voting scheduled for the 27th). As for six other lawmakers, including former Policy Research Council Chairman Koichi Hagiuda, the party decided not to endorse them in single-seat constituencies, citing ongoing internal party disciplinary measures decided in April. He made the revelation to reporters after meeting with Secretary-General Moriyama Hiroshi and others at the party headquarters. The party executive had in principle been inclined to officially endorse the lawmakers with illicit funds and also to allow them to run in both the proportional representation and electoral districts, but with strong criticism from the public as a backdrop, the prime minister appears to have pushed through within the party. The Prime Minister told reporters, “There will be a considerable number of non-official nominees, but as the person with the authority to nominate, I will make the final decision responsibly with the aim of gaining the trust of the people.” Regarding the response in single-seat constituencies, the Prime Minister stated that he would de-endorse the following: 1) those who have received a punishment heavier than “non-official endorsement in an election,” 2) those who have received a punishment lighter than non-official endorsement but whose punishment continues and who have not attended the Diet’s Political Ethics Review Committee to explain their status, and 3) those who have received sanctions and are deemed to have not gained sufficient understanding in their local area. Regarding overlaps with proportional representation, “The other members who were not included will not be included in the proportional representation list. “We have cut off our escape route and will leave the decision to the voters,” he explained. He also stated that the party’s four top officials – Secretary-General Moriyama, Policy Research Council Chairman Onodera Itsunori, General Affairs Chairman Suzuki Shunichi, and Election Strategy Committee Chairman Koizumi Shinjiro – would not run in both the proportional representation and other seats, stating that “we will fulfill our responsibilities together.” Regarding condition (1), three people fall under the category of non-official candidate: former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Hakubun Shimomura, former Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura (suspension of party membership for one year), and former Chairman of the National Diet Affairs Committee Takeshi Takagi (suspension of party membership for six months). In addition to Hagiuda, category ② applies to three people: former Deputy Cabinet Minister Mitsubayashi Hiromi and former Reconstruction Minister Hirasawa Katsuei (both of whom have been suspended from their party positions for one year). If there are any lawmakers who fall into category ③, the number of unofficial candidates will increase even further. The government says it will consider how to handle lawmakers such as Sugita Mio, Omi Asako, and Uesugi Kentaro, who are rumored to be running alone through the proportional representation system. On the 6th, Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, told reporters in Tokyo about the Prime Minister’s announcement, “Most of the lawmakers with secret funds will be officially recognized. “With this system, it’s impossible to gain public understanding at all,” he said. [Kim Juyoung] ◇6 unofficial House of Representatives members ※The electoral districts are those scheduled to run in this House of Representatives election ・Former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Shimomura Hirofumi (1 year suspension of party membership) Tokyo 11th district, unlisted amount of 4.76 million yen, Abe faction ・Former Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Nishimura Yasutoshi (same) Hyogo 9th district, unlisted amount of 1 million yen, Abe faction ・Former Chairman of the National Diet Affairs Committee Takagi Takeshi (same for 6 months) Fukui 2nd district, unlisted amount of 10.19 million yen, Abe faction ・Former Deputy Cabinet Minister Mitsubayashi Hiromi (1 year suspension from party positions) Saitama 13th district, unlisted amount of 29.54 million yen, Abe faction ・Former Minister of Reconstruction Hirasawa Katsuei (same) Tokyo 17th district, unlisted amount of 18.17 million yen, Nikai faction ・Former Policy Research Council Chairman Hagiuda Koichi (same) Tokyo 24th district, unlisted amount of 27.28 million yen, Abe faction Mainichi Shimbun.
>>1 The essence of the problem with the Abe faction’s kickbacks is that the accounting officer 20 years ago misunderstood that factions could also spend policy activity expenses that were originally only available to the party headquarters, and over the course of those 20 years this has become a custom. This is just a clerical error that is often made by opposition parties, and can be fixed with a correction to the political funding report.
>>1 99% of the Japanese Communist Party’s political funds come from indirect donations. The majority of the Communist Party’s income comes from sales of its magazine, Akahata, but the purpose of a magazine published by a political party is not to obtain political funds, but to communicate the political policies, policies, and opinions of the party or politician. The Communist Party gets most of its political funding from the sale of Akahata (revenues exceed 16 billion yen), and the sale of Akahata is used as an anonymous, indirect form of political donations in the name of the party’s newspaper. Furthermore, since there is no obligation to disclose details of income from Akahata sales, even if a foreigner is a major purchaser and de facto donor of political funds, it is not listed in the political funds income and expenditure report, meaning that illegal donations are slipping through the net of the Political Funds Control Act. In terms of the opacity of political funds, the sale of Akahata, which involves huge indirect donations, is far more criminal.
>>1 Who is this guy? He’s a close aide to Ishiba, so he won’t be punished? 《Appointed Minister of Economic Revitalization》 Suspicious Hong Kong casino stocks purchased by Ishiba Shigeru’s closest aide, Akazawa Ryomasa, “Suspicion of violation of the Political Funds Control Law and the Asset Disclosure Law…” news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/c2730a5c63a8d188b6b46e66fa17bda8dff98655.
It will surely be difficult for a lawmaker who is under fire over the issues of slush funds and the Unification Church to be included on the proportional representation list.
>>3>>1 The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan also spends research commission fees, which are secret funds that are not reported in the recipient’s political funding report. If the kickbacks from the Abe faction are slush funds, then the Constitutional Democratic Party is also spending slush funds.
>>5 If they do that, they’ll both lose. It’s just a performance. If they win the election, their atonement will be complete. Well, they’ll almost certainly win. The one in danger is Takagi. It’ll be dangerous if the Communist Party withdraws its candidate.
It seems like Shinjiro and his father want to follow in his footsteps and make it into a postal snap election, but unless they send in assassins instead of just unofficial candidates, it’s too easy.
File a tax return, not an income statement. When he said this, both ruling party supporters and opposition party supporters remained silent. It’s the same thing.
I don’t mind an unofficial candidate, but you should put up an opposing officially endorsed candidate. Don’t be lazy. Reporters should also dig into this issue properly.
Sugita Mio is expected to be unofficially endorsed in the proportional representation China block. “What is starting?” “The third Kishida administration. ” [971283288].
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