World News

JCP lawmaker's resignation stuns party

Hideyo Fudesaka, the Japanese Communist Party's (JCP) policy chief, tendered his resignation from the House of Councilors on June 24 after admitting that he had sexually harassed a woman.

The same day, JCP executives told a hastily arranged news conference that the 55-year-old Fudesaka, who had served as the party's top policymaker since 1997, has been stripped of all party posts.

The move is expected to deal a severe blow to the JCP; Fudesaka was one of the party's best-known and sharpest debaters, often appearing on TV shows and televised Diet interpellation sessions to grill Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and members of his Cabinet.

The fact that sexual harassment was the trigger was also ignominious for the party, which prides itself on its clean image. "(The sexual harassment) was intolerable both socially and in terms of our party code," Tadayoshi Ichida, the head of the JCP secretariat, said.

According to the JCP, a woman told the secretariat of the JCP's Central Committee in May that she was sexually harassed by Fudesaka during a party in which drinks were served. The JCP did not disclose the woman's name or provide details of what sort of conduct Fudesaka displayed.

Responding to questions from the party, Fudesaka owned up to the harassment and voluntarily offered to resign as a Diet member, the JCP officials said. He will, however, remain a party member.

Shukan ST: July 4, 2003

(C) All rights reserved