Japan prosecutors arrest LDP lawmaker over bribe

Japan prosecutors arrest LDP lawmaker over bribe
REUTERS

JAN 16: Japanese prosecutors on Tuesday arrested a lawmaker from the party of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, setting the scene for a rowdy session of parliament this month as new scandal threatens to engulf his government.

Prosecutors arrested Takao Koyama, a member of the Upper House from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), over allegations that he accepted more than 20 million yen ($168,000) in bribes from scandal-hit industrial insurance provider KSD, domestic media reported.

The scandal forced the resignation on Monday of LDP veteran Masakuni Murakami as head of the LDP group in the Upper House to take responsibility for the scandal involving Koyama, who once served as his secretary.

Koyama's troubles deal an additional blow to Mori, already battling support at record lows and fighting a court battle over his alleged links to a gangster.

Chief government spokesman Yasuo Fukuda said Mori must tackle the issue seriously.

"It's of course not a good thing for the Mori administration. It is possible that it could have an impact. We must face this squarely," he told a regular news conference.

The New Komeito, LDP's key partner in the three-way ruling coalition, was blunter, urging Koyama to resign as a lawmaker if the charges were true, echoing similar Opposition calls.

"The LDP is being put to the test to purify itself," Tetsuzo Fuyushiba, New Komeito's secretary general, said in a statement.

The LDP's coalition partners are already loath to fight July Upper House elections with Mori at the helm after he led the LDP to one of its worst performances in elections for the powerful Lower House last year. The party lost its simple majority.

Prosecutors suspect Upper House lawmaker Koyama received the cash in 1996 from former KSD president Tadao Koseki in return for asking questions in Parliament that were advantageous for the insurer, whose main clients are small businesses.

Koseki was charged last year with breach of trust for misusing the insurer's money and Koyama's involvement is widely seen as the tip of the iceberg of a scandal involving many more LDP lawmakers, domestic media said.

Scandal may spread

The scandal has already touched even cabinet members.

Last month, Japanese media said Economic Minister Fukushiro Nukaga had allegedly taken 15 million yen from Koseki.

Nukaga said one of his secretaries had received the funds but that he was not notified until May. He returned the money a few days later, media reports said.

Fukuda, however, denied that government ministers had worrisome links to the firm. "I do not think there are any cabinet members who will face difficulties over this," he said.

The Opposition camp looked set to take advantage of the scandal to launch a fresh attack on Mori's leadership in the regular Parliamentary session that will start on January 31, and embarrass Mori ahead of Upper House elections scheduled for July.

Opposition smells blood

Some Opposition parties are demanding that Nukaga, along with Koyama and Murakami, be summoned to testify in Parliament on KSD.

Such demands will put the coalition in a tight spot because it wants to avoid confrontation with the Opposition that could disrupt parliamentary debate and delay enactment of the budget for the next fiscal year starting in April.

Murakami's resignation from such a key post was seen as an attempt by the LDP to minimise the fallout, but party officials fear Nukaga may also be forced to step down.

"If the scandal looks likely to cause damage in the Upper House elections, all the lawmakers involved, including Nukaga, may have to step down," the Asahi Shimbun newspaper quoted a senior unidentified LDP official as saying.

The ruling bloc wants to pass the budget as soon as possible to try to boost its image with voters as a responsible government tackling economic problems holding back the recovery of the world's second-largest economy from a decade-long slump.