Despite its positive stance toward information disclosure, the administration of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has rejected a request from a civic group member to disclose specifics of the government's so-called secret funds for September, the group said Thursday.
The group, Seijishikin (political funds) Ombudsman, said it is poised to file a suit with the Osaka District Court for a repeal of the government decision not to disclose the requested information.
A coleader of the group, Haruyuki Matsuyama, who is an accountant, made the request with the government and received a notice of its decision.
The notice says the government has decided not to disclose its spending records that include for what reason and to whom money was paid because some of it, if revealed, could cause Tokyo to "harm relations of trust with parties such as other countries and incur disadvantages in negotiations."
The chief Cabinet secretary's account ledgers would not be unveiled because "no facts exist to be documented," it claimed, indicating no expenses were incurred in September.
As for payment details of secret funds, which are required to be reported to the Board of Audit, the notice says "no documents were compiled as of Oct. 1," when Matsuyama filed the request for disclosure.
After Hatoyama took power and launched his Cabinet in mid-September, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano took the rare step of revealing last month that he had received ¥120 million in confidential funds in two ¥60 million tranches, one on Sept. 24 and the other on Oct. 14.