NGO chief confirms Suzuki's pressure

The NGO president in the political vortex stated that Suzuki Muneo of the Liberal Democratic Party, who is currently under fire for his abuse of power, had barred Japanese NGOs from an Afghan aid conference held from January 20 to 22 in Tokyo.

Onishi Kensuke of Peace Winds Japan stated this in an unsworn testimony on March 4 at the House of Representative Budget Committee meeting.

In answer to Miyamoto Takeshi of the Japanese Communist Party, Onishi said that he received a call on January 19 from a Foreign Ministry official asking him to apologize to Suzuki for the comment published in the January 18 issue of Asahi Shimbun.

The NGO leader was quoted by Asahi as criticizing the government. Later, the NGO head was told by the ministry official that the lawmaker was so angry that he was insisting on barring such impertinent groups from the event.

Onishi said that the January 28 government announcement denying a specific Dietmember's insistence on obedience of the ministry differs from the truth.

He also confirmed the allegation that Suzuki put pressure on the ministry concerning the sudden cancellation of a relief team which the ministry planned to send to Mozambique in the flood calamity in March 2000. (end)