It is only natural for actions that distort the fairness of elections to be severely questioned.
The Hiroshima District Public Prosecutors Office has arrested three people, including secretaries of former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai and his wife, Anri, on suspicion of paying her campaign staff more than legally allowed in violation of the Public Offices Election Law. Katsuyuki is a Liberal Democratic Party member of the House of Representatives, while Anri is an LDP member of the House of Councillors.
The three men are suspected of paying 30,000 yen per person in daily allowances -- in excess of the legal ceiling of 15,000 yen per day -- to 14 staff members working aboard Anri's campaign car in the Hiroshima constituency during the campaign for the upper house election in July last year, in which she was elected for the first time.
Her campaign team had prepared two receipts for 15,000 yen in daily wages for each campaign staff member and reported only one of them as election expenses. If this was done intentionally to cover up illegal activities, it is utterly nefarious.
How aware were they of the series of actions by their secretaries? It is desirable for the prosecutors office to do its utmost to clarify the whole picture of the case, including whether the couple was involved in it.
Another focus of the investigation is whether the guilt-by-association system will be applied to Anri. The Public Offices Election Law stipulates that if a person who has a certain relationship with a candidate is found guilty in such cases as bribery, his or her election victory will be invalidated even if the candidate is not involved in the case.
LDP must take note
Katsuyuki's arrested secretary had been in charge of managing the entire schedule of the upper house election campaign, while Anri's arrested secretary is said to have been in charge of paying the campaign workers. The key to the investigation is whether prosecutors can prove that they played important roles in Anri's election campaign.
What cannot be ignored is that the couple has not publicly explained the problem.
Katsuyuki resigned as justice minister after the case came to light following a weekly magazine's report on the scandal in October last year. Upon leaving his post, he denied any involvement and said, "I'd like to thoroughly investigate the case and fulfill my accountability." However, even after the arrest of the three men, including his secretary, he has not said anything, citing the fact that the case is still under investigation.
On Thursday, Anri denied any involvement in the scandal, only expressing her intention to continue to serve as a Diet member in a meeting with the LDP secretary general in the upper house.
Lawmakers have a responsibility to explain to the public when they are questioned over acts of suspected misconduct. This is even more the case for Katsuyuki, who has served as justice minister, a post whose holder is in charge of maintaining law and order.
In the Hiroshima constituency, an incumbent LDP member aimed to win a sixth term in the election, but the LDP headquarters decided to field Anri despite opposition from the party's prefectural chapter. The LDP headquarters gave an exceptional 150 million yen in support to the campaign team of Anri, who failed to receive support from the prefectural chapter.
After intense campaign activities, the incumbent was defeated in the race.
It is also pointed out that the backdrop of such election campaigning is believed to have bearing on the incident. The LDP headquarters also should take seriously the arrest of the men, including the couple's secretaries.
-- The original Japanese article appeared in The Yomiuri Shimbun on March 7, 2020.
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