The courts have been entrusted with discovering the truth about the election violations allegedly committed by a pair of married Diet members. The couple must explain why they provided so much cash to so many people.
House of Representatives member and former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai and his wife, Anri, who belongs to the House of Councillors, have been indicted for suspected violations of the Public Offices Election Law, including bribery, by the special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office.
Katsuyuki Kawai was head of the Justice Ministry, which is responsible for protecting law and order. He had also served as state minister in the past. It is shocking that a politician who should be well versed in the administration of justice was charged with bribery.
Katsuyuki Kawai is suspected of giving 100 people, including local assembly members, a total of about 29 million yen in the Hiroshima prefectural constituency, in which Anri Kawai was elected for the first time in an upper house election held in July last year. She is also suspected of conspiring in some of the cases.
Many of the recipients of the cash were influential people, such as Hiroshima prefectural assembly members and mayors. There was a case in which 2 million yen was provided to a single person. It would be a grave situation if the results of the election were distorted by money.
Katsuyuki Kawai is believed to have basically admitted to providing cash, but has denied any intention of bribing people. No matter what the intention was, it must be said that he lacked ethics and had an abnormal attitude toward money.
The investigation squad identified Katsuyuki Kawai as a "campaign manager" under the election law. Bribery by a campaign manager carries heavy penalties under the law. Prosecutors apparently judged that he was in effect presiding over the campaign and deemed him highly responsible.
A provision in the election law stipulates that those who accept cash while recognizing a corrupt intention can also be punished for the act of taking a bribe. Regarding the punishment of those who were provided with cash, the investigation squad has merely said, "No charges have been made at this time."
In the scandal, a local city assembly member mailed about 3,000 postcards supporting Anri Kawai to eligible voters after receiving 500,000 yen. The assembly member is said to have told investigators, "I sensed the intention for bribery, but the cash was used for living expenses."
Some assembly members who received cash have been forced to apologize or resign. A mayor who admitted receiving 600,000 yen held a press conference to apologize with his hair cropped short. Regardless of whether they are indicted, they cannot escape moral responsibility. Furthermore, they are unlikely to win the understanding of voters.
In the court trials, the focal point will be whether the Kawais offered the cash with the intention of asking recipients to collect votes.
So far, the Kawais have failed to explain the case in public. Where did they get the money they provided? It is also important to clarify the connection between the scandal and the 150 million yen that was transferred from the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters to Anri Kawai's side before the election.
-- The original Japanese article appeared in The Yomiuri Shimbun on July 9, 2020.
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