TOKYO, Dec 5 (NNN-NHK) – A criminal complaint was filed against Japanese Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, yesterday, alleging that, she has received a political donation from a company that exceeded the legal maximum.
The complaint, sent by Hiroshi Kamiwaki, a constitutional law professor at Kobe Gakuin University, said, a local chapter of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Nara Prefecture, represented by Takaichi, received in Aug, last year, a 10-million-yen (64,400 U.S. dollar) donation, above a 7.5 million yen limit, stipulated in the political funds control law, for a donor of that size.
Similarly, a LDP chapter in Kanagawa Prefecture, led by Defence Minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, was the recipient of a 10-million-yen donation from another firm, also surpassing the 7.5 million yen cap. Kamiwaki has separately filed a complaint on Wednesday over the violation.
The cases add to the ruling LDP’s slush fund scandal, first revealed in 2023, in which some party factions of the LDP allegedly instructed member lawmakers to sell political fundraising party tickets, beyond their assigned quotas, without recording the amount as revenue, in its political fund reports, and then funneled the surplus back to lawmakers as kickbacks, creating off-the-books funds.
Among the senior officials Takaichi appointed, after taking office in Oct, seven have been linked to the LDP’s slush fund scandal. Critics said, her ambiguous stance on the scandal suggests limited willingness to push for fundamental reform.– NNN-NHK