Political Funding and Corruption Issues

I’m Kotaro Tatsumi. On the issue of politics and money,

money from for-profit corporations seeking something in return

money from for-profit corporations seeking something in return

distorts politics,

and the more than 30 billion yen

and the more than 30 billion yen

in political party subsidies distributed

to parties other than ours have corrupted them, I believe.

The Japan Innovation Party, our coalition partner, has also

shelved its ban on corporate and organizational

donations and has yet to uncover its slush funds.

Why does the prime minister

want to avoid this topic?

Political funds

reports have come out,

and the mystery was solved.

I looked through some recent

articles.

More than 40 percent of slush-fund lawmakers held parties.

Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama

violated ministerial ethics rules by selling party tickets

to the financial industry, over which she has

authority in her official capacity.

That’s not

all. Next panel.

Problematic uses

of political funds.

These have been revealed

one after another.

Our party’s Akahata newspaper

broke the story,

but Japan Innovation Party leader Fujita spent

political funds on a company

headed by his publicly funded

secretary.

That is clearly a recycling of public funds.

In the case of Japan Innovation Party Policy Research Chair Kaori Takagi,

her policy secretary also

spent political funds on a company

he headed.

In the first place, lawmakers’ secretaries

are prohibited from holding

second jobs.

A secretary’s role is to support lawmakers’

work, including national policy investigations,

Diet deliberations, legislative work,

and oversight of the administration,

which is an important job.

That is precisely why they are paid

with public funds.

It is only natural to suspect that these secretaries

are not properly doing their work

in the Diet.

There is more.

Health, Labour and Welfare Minister Ueno

spent political funds on snack bar charges.

Japan Innovation Party lawmaker Okushita

spent political funds at hostess clubs

and show pubs, while other lawmakers

also spent money

at girls’ bars.

These are expenditures by parties

receiving political party subsidies,

which come from taxpayers’ money.

They call it reform through self-sacrifice,

but I would first tell them to pay out of their own pockets.

That is what I want to say.

Prime Minister, Prime Minister, this kind of use

of political funds,

I think this is inappropriate,

- don't you?

- Prime Minister Takaichi.

Well, the fact is that these income and expenditure

reports are properly filed

in accordance with the law,

which is precisely why

cases like this

come to light.

I believe this is

transparency.

Whether the use of the funds is good or bad

is something the public should decide

after seeing this, I believe,

and

each legislator

should provide a full explanation,

- I believe.

- Mr. Tatsumi.

No, Prime Minister, this is

inappropriate,

and everyone has corrected it

and even returned the money.

The Prime Minister should clearly say

that money for things like

hostess clubs, girls' bars,

or snack bars should not be spent

on political funds

for gatherings.

Rather than that, the Prime Minister has been saying

the number of seats should be

reduced.

But I am originally

from Osaka,

and in just ten years, the Osaka Prefectural Assembly's

109 seats were cut by 30 percent

to 79.

What happened in this prefectural assembly?

In the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly,

single-member districts,

electoral districts where only one person

can be elected, account for

17 percent of the total.

In the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly, single-member districts account for

26 percent.

In Osaka, it is 70 percent.

This made it possible for the Ishin Association to rule dictatorially,

with minority opinions unable

to be heard.

In this assembly,

the special committee that was requested was ultimately

not established, and the Osaka governor's

spur-of-the-moment

policies were rolled out one after another.

The most glaring example

was Ishin, wasn't it?

Osaka's COVID death toll

became the worst

in the nation. This is the true nature of

so-called reform that cuts into one's own flesh.

The proposal now being made

to do this at the national level

is precisely the proposed reduction

in the number of seats.

More than that, at a time when people's lives are so difficult,

what is needed now is

uncovering the truth about slush funds, banning corporate and organizational donations,

and abolishing political party subsidies.

I will conclude by stating

that. That is all.