The indictment last week of Lower House member Muneo Suzuki on fresh charges of bribery is a reminder that money politics is alive -- if not well -- and that genuine political reform remains a long way off. Public prosecutors are reportedly building new cases against him for possible campaign-fund abuse and perjury. The multifaceted corruption scandal involving the former Liberal Democratic Party power broker has yet to be unraveled.
The sad fact is that collusion between politicians and businesses has continued in one form or another since the 1980s, when bribery scandals began to proliferate. One of the most controversial cases was the so-called Recruit scandal in which an up-and-coming job-magazine publisher sought favors from key politicians by selling them large numbers of lucrative unlisted shares in his subsidiary firm.
The stock-for-favors scandal, which brought down an entire Cabinet, sparked extensive debates on political reform. So far, however, nothing much appears to have changed. During the last Diet session, which ended in July, money affairs cost several legislators, including a former LDP secretary general and a former foreign minister, their seats.