Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Q&A on the Nishimatsu Construction Affair

Q: Is the arrest of Ōkubo Takanori, the chief secretary of Democratic Party of Japan Leader Ozawa Ichirō and accountant of the Rikuzankai, Ozawa's political fundraising organization, an act of naked interference in the political process undertaken on what could only be the thinnest of evidence in a desperate move by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office, a body that seems to capriciously target threats the status quo, to keep Ozawa and the Democratic Party from power?

A: Yes.

Q: Why do you say that? Why not trust the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office to issue arrest warrants with impartiality and fairness?

A. Horie Takafumi. Murakami Yoshiaki. Nakatsuji Masato...

On NHK this morning, the reporter in charge of the story explained that the prosecutor's office had to arrest Ōkubo before the statute of limitations ran out on his possible violations of the Political Fundraising Fund Law.

That the prosecutors could not get their act together before now means either:

1) their real goal was not to prosecute the identifiable criminals but to link Ozawa to the purported illegal donations, a self-appointed, extra-legal task they have failed to accomplish

2) they have nothing on Ōkubo either, and with the statute of limitations looming, are tossing the dice in the hopes they will get a pliable and craven judge to convict him in the first trial.

...and to think a revue of Japan blogs called these my tippy-tappings "politics with a cynical edge."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ozawa appears to agree.

http://www.nikkei.co.jp/news/main/20090304AT3S0400B04032009.html

Anonymous said...

Cynicism is an optimistic way of looking at things when when it comes to the LDP.

Jan Moren said...

This can make DPJ look just as bad as LDP whether the charges are true or not. The problem for DPJ is that this perception sticks really easily - largely because it more or less is the truth.

The hope for the future that the DPJ represents lies not in the party itself, but in the realignment of the political landscape an opposition win would enable. In an ideal world, DPJ would quietly disintegrate right along with LDP. We just don't want it to happen too early.