ID :
166133
Sun, 03/06/2011 - 17:55
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/166133
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Maehara announces resignation over illegal donations from foreigner
TOKYO, March 6 Kyodo - Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara announced his resignation Sunday over his receipt of illegal donations from a South Korean resident of Japan, dealing a serious blow to the embattled government of Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
After meeting with Kan at the prime minister's official residence in the evening, the 48-year-old minister apologized at a late night press conference for causing public mistrust by a political funds scandal.
''I have to solemnly accept the fact that a politician serving as foreign minister has received a donation from a foreigner,'' Maehara said. ''I don't want to inflict damage on Japan's foreign policy by arousing suspicion among foreign governments and the Japanese people.''
Japan's Political Funds Control Law bans contributions from foreign individuals or entities in order to prevent domestic politics from being influenced by foreign powers.
Kan, who remained reticent about Maehara's resignation when he met with reporters shortly before the news conference, tried to persuade Maehara to remain in his post but eventually accepted his resignation, the minister said. The decision on who will succeed him as foreign minister is up to the premier, he added.
Ruling Democratic Party of Japan sources said Kan could promote State Foreign Secretary Takeaki Matsumoto, pick former Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Masayuki Naoshima or the prime minister could double as foreign minister.
Maehara said he was stepping down to ensure smooth Diet deliberations on the fiscal 2011 budget and to avoid a ''vacuum'' in Japanese foreign policy amid pressing matters such as the aftermath of the earthquake in New Zealand and the unrest in Libya.
Maehara, who had been seen as a leading candidate to succeed Kan, is the first minister to resign since Kan reshuffled his Cabinet in January. He assumed the foreign minister's post in September.
Opposition parties demanded Sunday that Kan step down with his entire Cabinet and dissolve the House of Representatives for an election.
At the news conference, Maehara said he had received donations totaling 250,000 yen from a South Korean permanent resident of Japan who lives in Kyoto, in violation of the Political Funds Control Law.
Maehara said he was unaware of the receipt of the money from the South Korean woman, with whom he has been acquainted as a neighbor since he was a teenager, denying the money had influenced Japanese foreign policy in any way.
But he acknowledged his failure to supervise his aides with regard to the political donations and said he was taking responsibility.
Maehara expressed regret for quitting before fulfilling his goals of bolstering foreign policy to secure Japan's economic presence abroad and deepening the Japan-U.S. security alliance, which marked its 50th anniversary in 2010.
When the DPJ took power in September 2009, Maehara served as transport minister and a minister in charge of Okinawa and the Northern Territories, islands off Hokkaido that are held by Russia but claimed by Japan. He was appointed foreign minister when Kan, who assumed office last June, first reshuffled his Cabinet in September.
The six-term House of Representatives lawmaker from Kyoto became DPJ president in 2005, when the party was in opposition. But he stepped down nearly seven months later over a fake e-mail fiasco involving a DPJ lawmaker.
After meeting with Kan at the prime minister's official residence in the evening, the 48-year-old minister apologized at a late night press conference for causing public mistrust by a political funds scandal.
''I have to solemnly accept the fact that a politician serving as foreign minister has received a donation from a foreigner,'' Maehara said. ''I don't want to inflict damage on Japan's foreign policy by arousing suspicion among foreign governments and the Japanese people.''
Japan's Political Funds Control Law bans contributions from foreign individuals or entities in order to prevent domestic politics from being influenced by foreign powers.
Kan, who remained reticent about Maehara's resignation when he met with reporters shortly before the news conference, tried to persuade Maehara to remain in his post but eventually accepted his resignation, the minister said. The decision on who will succeed him as foreign minister is up to the premier, he added.
Ruling Democratic Party of Japan sources said Kan could promote State Foreign Secretary Takeaki Matsumoto, pick former Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Masayuki Naoshima or the prime minister could double as foreign minister.
Maehara said he was stepping down to ensure smooth Diet deliberations on the fiscal 2011 budget and to avoid a ''vacuum'' in Japanese foreign policy amid pressing matters such as the aftermath of the earthquake in New Zealand and the unrest in Libya.
Maehara, who had been seen as a leading candidate to succeed Kan, is the first minister to resign since Kan reshuffled his Cabinet in January. He assumed the foreign minister's post in September.
Opposition parties demanded Sunday that Kan step down with his entire Cabinet and dissolve the House of Representatives for an election.
At the news conference, Maehara said he had received donations totaling 250,000 yen from a South Korean permanent resident of Japan who lives in Kyoto, in violation of the Political Funds Control Law.
Maehara said he was unaware of the receipt of the money from the South Korean woman, with whom he has been acquainted as a neighbor since he was a teenager, denying the money had influenced Japanese foreign policy in any way.
But he acknowledged his failure to supervise his aides with regard to the political donations and said he was taking responsibility.
Maehara expressed regret for quitting before fulfilling his goals of bolstering foreign policy to secure Japan's economic presence abroad and deepening the Japan-U.S. security alliance, which marked its 50th anniversary in 2010.
When the DPJ took power in September 2009, Maehara served as transport minister and a minister in charge of Okinawa and the Northern Territories, islands off Hokkaido that are held by Russia but claimed by Japan. He was appointed foreign minister when Kan, who assumed office last June, first reshuffled his Cabinet in September.
The six-term House of Representatives lawmaker from Kyoto became DPJ president in 2005, when the party was in opposition. But he stepped down nearly seven months later over a fake e-mail fiasco involving a DPJ lawmaker.
