Lower House member Muneo Suzuki was recently arrested by the Tokyo District Prosecutor's Office on charges of accepting a bribe in an influence-peddling scandal. Following the arrest, the Lower House approved a nonbinding motion demanding Suzuki resign as a lawmaker. This was the second such motion approved, and the first such motion endorsed for a Lower House member.
Suzuki has denied the allegations against him, which showed money politics is rampant in Japan. Practitioners of such politics tamper with government policies through influence peddling and use political donations they collect from companies to expand their influence.
Pork-barrel politics was established under the LDP administrations that have ruled Japan for the past half century. Opposition Liberal Party chief Ichiro Ozawa, a one-time member of the LDP leadership group, says influence-peddling scandals will never end until the LDP eliminates its dependence on pork-barrel politics. The question is: Do LDP leaders have any sense of responsibility for salvaging Japan's corrupt politics?