The political ethics issue confronts the new administration of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori. The question at stake is whether Japan will be able to put an end to the politics of patronage.
The recent arrest of former Construction Minister Eiichi Nakao, who allegedly took 30 million yen in bribes from a construction company while he was in office, is a sobering reminder that influence-peddling, pork-distributing politics is still alive if not well. According to Tokyo public prosecutors, Nakao is charged with having tried to arrange for the firm to get a lucrative contract from the ministry, a charge Nakao denies.
Plans now in the works would provide criminal penalties for Diet members who request or receive bribes in return for political patronage. A similar but broader proposal to stamp out political corruption was made about two years ago, in spring 1998, by the then ruling parties -- the Liberal Democratic Party, the Social Democratic Party and Sakigake. That plan fell through, when the LDP changed its mind at the last minute.