The posts minister said Friday he will return one month's salary to take responsibility for a scandal in which a former Upper House lawmaker resigned after postal officials were accused of soliciting votes in his election campaign.
Toranosuke Katayama also said Postal Services Agency chief Seijiro Adachi will have his salary cut by 10 percent for three months in connection with the scandal, which forced Kenji Koso to vacate his House of Councilors seat on Sept. 25.
Punishments for two senior postal officials indicted earlier this month in connection with the case, including Tsuyoshi Mishima, former head of the Kinki Postal Administration Office, will be decided after their cases are tried in court, the public management, home affairs, posts and telecommunications minister said. Katayama also admonished Akira Shimazu, administrative vice minister, Sadanori Amano, assistant minister, and Hiroaki Dan, director of the secretariat.
The minister, however, hinted at further punishments after the court proceedings are concluded, saying, "I will respond as necessary depending on the court's findings."
Following the admonition, Shimazu, Amano and Dan will voluntarily return 10 percent of their salaries for one month, ministry officials said.
Six other officials will receive salary cuts, two others will be reprimanded, 41 will be admonished and three will receive a strict warning, according to the minister.
Kazuyoshi Endo and Kenji Kosaka, both senior vice ministers, will also voluntarily return half of their salaries for one month, officials said.
"I don't think the (postal administration office) was a vote-gathering machine, but suspicions were created and I think there are many points that should be amended," Katayama said.
Koso, a former posts ministry senior official, was elected in the July 29 election, garnering 480,000 votes in his first run for public office. He resigned from the Upper House following the arrests of 16 people in connection with the scandal.
In 1970, Koso joined the then Posts and Telecommunications Ministry. He served as head of the Hokuriku Regional Bureau of Postal Services and the Kinki Regional Bureau of Postal Services before retiring in 1999.
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