Prime Minister Shinzo Abe responds to a question from an opposition party lawmaker during a Lower House Budget Committee session in February. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Shinzo Abe, who was prime minister until three months ago, has been questioned by prosecutors in connection with a political fund scandal while he was in office.
Given the gravity of the latest development, what should Abe do to fulfill his political responsibility?
First and foremost, it is imperative that he appear before an open session in the Diet and thoroughly explain himself.
Abe has voluntarily submitted to questioning by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office’s special investigation squad over payments to cover the costs of banquets held on the eve of annual cherry blossom viewing parties during his years in office.
Then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks at a Lower House Budget Committee session on Feb. 5. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Tokyo prosecutors will likely not indict former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after he again denied any involvement in the unreported payments his support group used to cover the costs of lavish dinner parties, sources said.
Abe had been questioned on a voluntary basis by the special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, the sources said on Dec. 22.
His chief state-paid aide, who heads the support organization, has admitted to not reporting the payments in its income and expenditure reports on political funds, a possible violation of the Political Fund Control Law, the sources said.
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks with reporters in the Diet building on Dec. 4. (Koichi Ueda)
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made at least 118 false statements in the Diet about hotel banquets held for his supporters, according to an investigation that has fueled demands that he testify before lawmakers.
The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan asked the Lower House’s research office to look into Abe’s past comments about the dinner parties that took place on the eve of annual cherry blossom viewing events hosted by Abe in the capital.
The investigation results released on Dec. 21 showed that Abe, as prime minister, made 118 false statements at 33 committee meetings and plenary sessions of both houses of the Diet from November 2019 to March 2020.
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Dec. 4 (Koichi Ueda)
Seventy percent of voters say former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should explain at an open hearing in the Diet the scandal over luxury banquets held for his supporters, an Asahi Shimbun survey showed.
Twenty-three percent of respondents in the Dec. 19-20 telephone survey said Abe does not need to explain the matter in an open hearing.
A support group headed by Abe’s senior state-paid aide covered part of the costs for the hotel banquets that were held on the eve of annual cherry blossom viewing events hosted by Abe in the capital. The payments were not reported, and Tokyo prosecutors are investigating the matter as a possible violation of the Political Fund Control Law.