Japan PM pressed to explain controversial gift certificates

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was once again pressed to explain himself during the House of Councillors Budget Committee session on Monday over the controversy surrounding his distribution of 100,000 yen ($672) worth of gift certificates to newly elected Liberal Democratic Party members of the House of Representatives. Although Ishiba maintained that there was no legal wrongdoing, he admitted to a "disconnect from public sentiment." He stated, "I fully recognize the issue from a societal norms perspective. I sincerely apologize".

The prime minister confirmed that prior to a dinner with the 15 first-term LDP members of the House of Representatives on March 3 at the official residence. He had instructed the distribution of gift certificates worth 100,000 yen to each of the members. "I gave them as souvenirs from my own pocket money before the dinner. This was not a donation related to political activities, and there is no illegality," Ishiba explained.

He also emphasized that none of the attendees at the gathering were from his constituency, nor was there any political intent involved. At the same time, he expressed deep regret for causing trouble and concern to many people. Opposition parties are calling for further explanations in the National Diet, Japan's legislature, and plan to ramp up their efforts ahead of the summer House of Councillors election.

Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, and Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, have called for the prime minister to explain himself at the Political Ethics Review Committee in the House of Representatives.

Japan's ruling party executives, including LDP Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama and Masaji Matsuyama, secretary-general for the LDP in the House of Councillors, held a meeting in Tokyo on Monday with deputy chief cabinet secretaries from both houses. Moriyama emphasized the need to "sincerely accept public opinion and work toward restoring trust".

With cabinet approval ratings plummeting across various media polls and calls for Ishiba's resignation emerging within the party, the meeting was seen as an attempt to unite ahead of the House of Councillors election, Jiji Press reported.

According to a nationwide poll conducted by the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun from March 14 to 16, support for the Ishiba Cabinet fell to 31 percent, the lowest since its inception, due to the controversy over the gift certificate distribution.

Also on Monday, LDP House of Councillors member Shouji Maitachi retracted his statement about Ishiba's distribution of gift certificates, in which he had claimed, "Past prime ministers routinely did this as a matter of tradition".

He issued a statement acknowledging that his remark was "based on a misunderstanding of the facts and speculation."

Maitachi, who is from the same LDP Tottori prefectural chapter as the prime minister, made the comment during a prefectural party meeting in Tottori City on Sunday.

On Friday, a civic group filed a criminal complaint with the Special Investigation Department of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, accusing the prime minister and the 15 members of violating the Political Funds Control Act.

The civic group argued that the act classifies gift certificates as "money or similar items" considered as donations. They claim this constitutes a violation of the law, which prohibits individuals from making donations to politicians for political activities.

Please contact the writers at jiangxueqing@chinadaily.com.cn