Sanseito Punishes 10 Members over Insurance Premium Evasion

Tokyo, May 18 (Jiji Press)–Sanseito has punished 10 members over evasion of national health insurance premium payments, the Japanese opposition party said Monday. Eight local assembly members avoided paying insurance premiums, the party said. Seven of them were urged to leave the party, while one was reprimanded, it said. Additionally, Sanseito expelled one member and recommended that one local assembly member leave the party, for supporting the insurance premium evasion. “I’ve always said that the issue of money should be transparent,” Sanseito chief Sohei Kamiya told a press conference. “It’s the responsibility of the party leadership,” he said of the premium evasion. The eight regional assembly members avoided paying national health insurance premiums by receiving low executive compensation from a nonprofit organization, despite having virtually no actual work as executives. Sanseito conducted a survey of its roughly 230 members of parliament and local assemblies on the issue, after four regional assembly members belonging to the Japan Innovation Party, a partner in the country’s ruling coalition, were found in January to have avoided paying insurance premiums. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]