With the recent arrests of two lawmakers having shown that prosecutors have concluded that providing cash to local assembly members may constitute a suspicious bribery case, some Liberal Democratic Party members expressed confusion, as it could affect their future political activities and election campaigns.
The special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office has arrested former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai and his wife, Anri, a member of the House of Councillors, on suspicion of violating the Public Offices Election Law.
Regarding the provision of funds by politicians, LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Fumio Kishida told reporters on Thursday: "I understand that it is done according to the law. There must be no violation of the law."
Under the Political Funds Control Law, a Diet member's political party branch is allowed to provide funds to a local assembly member's political organization.
According to a party source, there have been cases in which Diet members gave cash to local assembly members in the name of "encouragement money," "congratulatory gifts" and the like. This is because those working for Diet members and lawmakers themselves "assume they will win the next election, so that [they think] it is only natural for them to support local assembly members in terms of funds," according to a secretary of one Diet member.
In response to the arrests of the Kawais, a senior LDP member said, "If 'encouragement money' is seen as bribery, future elections will change drastically." Another senior LDP member also said, "Definitely there will be some lawmakers who are not sure how they're going to respond [to the change]"
Meanwhile, a party source said: "In the case of the Kawais, both the number of people [who are believed to have received the money] and the total amount of cash are far too large. Prosecutors might have judged that their act was nefarious even by the standard of socially accepted practices."
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
