SDP chief expects indicted lawmaker to resign voluntarily+

TOKYO, Feb. 5 Kyodo -
Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima indicated Friday that a
Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker charged with misreporting political funds
should resign from the lower house of his own accord.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, for his part, expressed his readiness to debate
in the Diet an opposition-proposed draft resolution recommending that the
lawmaker, Tomohiro Ishikawa, resign as a Diet member, despite a senior DPJ
lawmaker's move to block parliamentary deliberation on it.
The remarks came a day after prosecutors indicted three current and former
aides of DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa, including Ishikawa, over the
misreporting of funds at Ozawa's fund management body, while deciding not to
charge Ozawa due to a lack of evidence.
Ishikawa bears a ''grave moral and political responsibility'' for having been
charged while a lawmaker, Fukushima, who heads a junior coalition partner of
the DPJ, said at the House of Representatives Budget Committee.
''I hope he will make a decision on his future'' before the lower house makes a
move on the draft resolution recommending that the 36-year-old leaves the Diet,
said Fukushima, who doubles as consumer affairs minister.
Hatoyama, who leads the DPJ, reiterated that the second-term lawmaker should
first decide on his future on his own. ''The party will be asked to reach a
reasonable conclusion if necessary after watching what kind of action the
lawmaker takes,'' he said.
Ishikawa was freed on bail later Friday and apologized in a statement released
through a lawyer, saying, ''I will decide on my future soon after listening to
my supporters' opinions.''
Earlier in the day, DPJ Diet affairs chief Kenji Yamaoka said the ruling party
will not send the draft resolution to the lower house plenary session, saying
the proposal does not merit deliberation.
''The problem specified in the draft resolution is one that occurred when he
(Ishikawa) was a secretary'' to Ozawa, Yamaoka said at a meeting of the Diet
affairs committee. ''It does not concern a matter as a Diet member. It does not
merit deliberation.''
Despite Yamaoka's remarks, Hatoyama said he is willing to see the ruling and
opposition camps consider what to do with the draft resolution in the Diet,
telling reporters in the evening, ''We should discuss (the proposal) in the
Diet in a sincere manner.''
''The issue of resignation as a Diet member should be discussed at the Diet and
I don't know how much chairman Yamaoka's claim that it is an issue related to
when (Ishikawa) was a secretary will be understood,'' the prime minister said.
Ishikawa has been charged with misreporting money in the political funds
statement of Ozawa's fund management organization for 2004, when he was a
private secretary to Ozawa. He was elected to the lower house in 2007.
Jiro Kawasaki, the Diet affairs chief of the main opposition Liberal Democratic
Party, which submitted the draft resolution to the lower house speaker with two
other opposition parties, expressed disappointment over Yamaoka's move.
''Snubbing (the resolution) at the doorstep is regrettable, judging from the
basic rules of the Diet,'' he said at a news conference. ''I will make efforts
to send the draft resolution to the plenary session as soon as possible, while
discussing the demands of both sides at the Rules and Administration
Committee.''
LDP Secretary General Tadamori Oshima expressed his hope to summon Ishikawa to
a Diet meeting as a witness, telling reporters, ''I want him to come to the
Diet so we can hear what he has to say.''
Meanwhile, Hatoyama said the same day that discussions on banning political
donations from corporations and other organizations should conclude quickly for
possible legislation in light of the ''politics and money'' scandals that have
sapped people's confidence in his DPJ-led government.
''We must turn a stern eye on the Political Funds Control Law,'' Hatoyama told
the Budget Committee. ''I hope each party will discuss it and reach a
conclusion as soon as possible.''
The DPJ has advocated revising the law to impose a total ban on corporate
donations, which are often cited as a source of collusion between companies and
politicians.
In the case involving Ozawa's fund management body, prosecutors apparently
suspected that some of the misreported money that the body used to buy a plot
of land in Tokyo included secret donations from a contractor in a dam
construction project.
At the Diet panel, Hatoyama apologized to the public again for the concern and
worry caused by the fund scandals, including one involving himself, saying,
''We must eliminate the roots (of the problem).''
On Friday, LDP lawmakers continued grilling the Hatoyama government over the
politics and money issue, with former internal affairs minister Yoshihide Suga
painting Ozawa as ''clearly being so gray it is close to black.''
But Hatoyama dismissed the charge, saying that the prosecutors could not prove
Ozawa was involved in the case.
==Kyodo
2010-02-05 23:19:08


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