Regarding "Olympics minister denies cash-for-favors" in the Feb. 5 edition, the Liberal Democratic Party's leaders seem long on scandal and short on morals.
The shocking history of their gaffes, their greed and their gray dealings with money, and the exerting of influence for their own benefit, are matters of public record.
As the top echelons of Japan's lawmakers, even one suspicion should be dealt with harshly.
However, just remembering the perennial history of their party's corrupted mindset — from Kakuei Tanaka, through Ryutaro Hashimoto up to the present cases — renders undeniable the obvious truth: no smoke without fire.
At the very least these people who decide Japan's finances and fate should be subject to lie detector tests in public instead of being allowed to hide their behavior behind the rhetoric of deceit and deception, which they seem to rely on in every possible case.
Does such a party have the moral qualification necessary to replace a pacifist Constitution with its own concoction of veiled militarism?
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.