Casualty of money politics

金権政治の犠牲者

Mr. Kato's departure is particularly pathetic because he was once regarded as a prospective candidate for LDP president and prime minister. Although his standing in the party declined after his aborted "coup" in November 2000, he remained a faction leader until he left the party last month.

His resignation, approved at a Lower House plenary session on Tuesday, is emblematic of the deep-seated malady of money politics that afflicts the nation's largest political party. He may not be directly involved in the tax evasion case, but there is no denying that his fall from grace has been prompted largely by irregularities on the part of his once trusted aide and treasurer, who is charged with receiving kickbacks from public works contractors and using accounting tricks to avoid reporting campaign donations.

While it is up to investigators to find out whether Mr. Kato played a role in the case, it does not take such material evidence to require his resignation. His sin, as he acknowledged in his Diet testimony, is that he has betrayed the public's trust in politics. But it is not enough to grasp his decision in terms of political and moral responsibility; it must be taken as a wake-up call to the political world in general and to the LDP in particular.

Corruption scandals in the past forced a number of other LDP heavyweights to resign from the Diet. In 1992, for instance, Shin Kanemaru, then LDP vice president and the strongman of the party's largest faction, gave up his Lower House seat over charges that he had received ¥500 million in bribes from a parcel-delivery company.

Mr. Kato, who was chief Cabinet secretary at that time, seized the occasion to clean up the party while gearing up his campaign to reach the pinnacle of power. In the process, however, he was himself caught in the tangled web of money politics. That was the greatest mistake of his 30-year career, which began with a pledge to build a better Japan.

This is not the first time Mr. Kato has been involved in money scandals. In 1988 he was among the LDP bigwigs and their lieutenants who received lucrative unlisted shares — a form of bribery — from an up-and-coming job-information firm. And in 1992 he was accused of receiving illicit donations from a construction company. In both cases, however, he managed to evade responsibility. That may have emboldened him.

Money has played a potent role in past LDP presidential elections. To secure victory, presidential hopefuls — almost always faction leaders — would make constant efforts to enlarge their following and, come the election, make generous use of their ample war chests. The winner would be the one who had not only collected the most votes but also spent the most money.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's election to the LDP presidency last April set a positive precedent, however. He won the overwhelming support of party members without relying on factional strength and money power. His victory strongly suggested that the antiquated logic of LDP presidential elections and party politics was falling apart and that Japan's money-driven political system was finally beginning to change.

But the scandals surrounding Mr. Kato and other politicians indicate that the system is still rotten. Mr. Koizumi's ground-breaking election notwithstanding, the unholy alliance of money and politics appears to be alive and well. Breaking it up once and for all requires a wholesale cleanup of Japan politics, particularly the LDP, which has ruled the nation for nearly half a century with the exception of a brief period in the 1990s.

Money and politics are an old yet new subject of political discussion. It is time to rev up the debate and work out better ways to clean up politics. That won't be easy, but unless politics is purged of the sordid influence of money, the state of the nation's democracy will remain unchanged. The stakes are high for all political parties, not just the LDP.

The rapid succession of money-related scandals in recent weeks, involving legislators from both the ruling and opposition camps, has heightened the public's distrust of politics and politicians. The clear and present danger is that Japanese politics will be further demoralized unless the underlying problem of money and politics is effectively addressed. Measures must be urgently taken to ensure transparency in the flow of money. Otherwise, public trust cannot be restored.

The Japan Times: April 10, 2002
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      加藤氏は国会証言で、国民の政治への信頼を裏切ったことを認めた。しかし今回の決断を政治的、道義的責任の観点だけから評価するのは十分でない。これは政界に対する警鐘と取るべきだ。

      1992年、5億円収賄の疑いで金丸信自民党副総裁が辞職した時、内閣官房長官だった加藤氏は自民党浄化を主張し、権力掌握への機会をうかがった。しかしその過程で氏自身も金権政治の網に絡めとられ、長い議員歴に汚点を残した。

      過去の自民党総裁選では、得票数はもちろん、費やした選挙資金でも最多の候補者が当選した。しかし昨年4月の総裁選では、小泉純一郎氏が派閥の力や金に頼らずに党員の圧倒的な支持を得るという画期的な出来事が起きた。それでも、政治と金のつながりは生きていたわけだ。これを断ち切るためには、政界、特に与党経験の長い自民党の浄化が必要だ。議論を活発化させ、政治浄化の方法を探らねばならない。与野党議員の不祥事が相次ぎ、国民の政治不信はつのるばかりだ。早急に対策を講じて資金の流れに透明性を持たせない限り、国民の政治への信頼の回復はできない。

The Japan Times Weekly
April 20, 2002
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