EDITORIAL: Abe must face Diet questioning and stop hiding like a coward

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is believed to have used official, tax-funded events for his personal gain, and there are many questions that only he can answer to clear the suspicion.

Abe must live up to his accountability by complying with the demand of opposition parties to explain himself clearly in the Diet.

The opposition parties followed Upper House rules when they called for a budget committee debate in the chamber over the annual cherry blossom viewing events hosted by the prime minister every spring.

But the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito on Nov. 26 responded that they would agree to the debate only if the prime minister is kept out of it.

During the last regular session of the Diet, the ruling parties came under public criticism for ignoring the opposition demand. But any debate this time, without Abe’s presence, would deprive the Diet of its intended function of keeping the administration in check.

Abe’s attitude so far has been totally lacking in any sincere willingness to answer questions.

When suspicions were raised about the legality of parties he has been accustomed to host for his supporters on the eve of the cherry blossom viewing events, Abe spoke informally with gaggles of reporters at the prime minister’s office.

He explained that the party attendance fee of 5,000 yen ($45.82) per person was set by the hotel where the parties were held. And since every guest paid the fee directly to the hotel, none of the transactions needed to be entered in his income and expenditure reports on political funds, he said.

But Abe provided no evidentiary receipts and other documents, and he practically ignored further questions asked by reporters over the ensuing days.

During an Upper House plenary session last week, Abe admitted that the office of his support organization had solicited party participants and that he offered his opinions about invitees when they were sought.

In short, he retracted his previous assertion that he had “no part in the selection of guests.” But he got away with his “self-contradiction” without any further questioning.

This underscores the absolute necessity of getting him answer each question in Diet committee sessions.

Abe frequently stresses “old customs” with respect to the annual cherry blossom viewing events. But that is nothing but sidestepping the issue, and he must stop that.

It is true that some questionable customs exist, such as political parties and high-profile politicians given quotas of the numbers of people they can recommend as their invited guests.

But it was only after the second Abe administration came into being in 2012 that the total number of guests started bloating beyond the traditional quota of 10,000 people--which is clearly indicated in the government’s events guideline--and expenditures for the events more than tripled.

According to an opinion poll conducted by The Asahi Shimbun on Nov. 16 and 17, 68 percent of respondents “could not believe” Abe’s denial of his personal involvement in the selection of the guests, far outnumbering the 23 percent who said they could believe him.

And in a Kyodo News poll conducted after Abe’s retraction of his previous assertion, 69 percent of respondents “could not trust him,” compared with 21 percent who still trusted him.

Abe has stated that he would live up to his accountability if asked to do so by the Diet.

We must say he was fully confident that the Diet, where the ruling coalition holds a majority, would never agree to such an outcome.

Surely, any politician worth his salt would come forward willingly to explain himself to clear his name.

Abe must face his responsibility and stop hiding like a coward.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 27