Takaichi’s Pick of Scandal-Hit Deputy Govt Spokesperson Stirs Diet

Tokyo, Nov. 4 (Jiji Press)–Tensions are rising in the Diet, Japan’s parliament, over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s pick of scandal-mired lawmaker Kei Sato of the House of Councillors, the upper Diet chamber, as deputy chief cabinet secretary. Opposition parties object to Sato attending Upper House meetings as he has yet to face an election since he was found to be among the Liberal Democratic Party members involved in the ruling party’s “slush funds” scandal. Sato serves as a liaison between the Takaichi administration and the Upper House. How Takaichi, who was inaugurated last month, will address the situation is closely watched. “I feel strongly that the prime minister is neglecting opposition parties,” Yoshitaka Saito, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s Diet affairs chief for the Upper House, told reporters Friday. “It’s the responsibility of the government and the ruling parties to resolve this situation.” Sato had been a member of the now-defunct LDP faction once headed by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and is close to Takaichi, a lawmaker of the House of Representatives, the all-important lower Diet chamber, as they are both elected from Nara Prefecture in western Japan. He testified before the Upper House ethics panel in January over his failure to report 3.06 million yen in political funds, but his seat was not up for grabs in the Upper House election in July. According to a senior LDP official, the ruling party and the CDP confirmed in advance that an LDP member involved in the slush funds scandal would not be allowed to serve as deputy chief cabinet secretary in charge of Upper House deliberations under the Takaichi administration. The opposition side voiced concerns when the plan to appoint Sato to the post emerged, and the LDP told the prime minister’s side through multiple channels that selecting Sato would hinder parliamentary procedures. Nevertheless, Takaichi ultimately chose Sato for the position. Opposition parties have declined to allow Sato to attend board meetings of the Upper House’s steering committee. Explanations to the Upper House about government-sponsored bills submitted to the ongoing extraordinary Diet session were therefore made by Masanao Ozaki, another deputy chief cabinet secretary and Lower House member, instead. Junichi Ishii, the LDP’s Diet affairs chief in the Upper House, has argued that this situation should not continue, while a senior LDP official expressed worries that the current situation is undermining the uniqueness of the upper chamber. Opposition parties are also refusing to let Sato attend question-and-answer sessions in Upper House plenary meetings Wednesday and Thursday regarding Takaichi’s policy address delivered before the Diet on Oct. 24. Meanwhile, the government has ruled out the possibility of replacing Sato. The LDP hopes that careful explanations and apologies by the prime minister would lead to the opposition softening its stance over the matter. “The question is how the prime minister would explain,” a senior LDP official said. “Whether the opposition side will reverse its rejection of Sato is up to her statements in the Diet.” Some believe that the latest issue also reflects a discord between Ishii, a former member of the now-defunct LDP faction led by Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, and Lower House member Hiroshige Seko, a former Abe faction executive to whom Sato is close. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]