Democratic Party vice president admits to depending on scandal-involved consulting firm

Democratic Party of Japan Vice President Kano Michihiko has admitted that his secretaries were paid a total of 30 million yen over four years since 1995 by a consulting firm owned by a former secretary who was recently arrested on suspicion of interfering with public a bidding for public works project.

On February 6, Kano announced he was leaving the party to "avoid causing troubles to the party." But he stopped short of resigning as a Dietmember, saying that he was not aware of the payment being offered by his former secretary Ozaki Mitsuo.

In a published statement on the same day, the Japanese Communist Party Acting Secretariat Head, Fudesaka Hideyo, said that the fact that Kano's secretaries had been paid by Gyosai Toshi Kaihatsu Kenkyujo, a firm selling information concerning biddings for public works projects, suggests that Kano himself was deeply involved in the scandal.

Fudesaka said that Kano's leaving the DPJ will not help unravel the scandal and demanded that the DPJ make all facts public.

The JCP is demanding that Kano as well as Kato Koichi, former Liberal Democratic Party secretary general, be subpoenaed by parliament because their secretaries have been arrested or questioned by the tax concerning the scandal. Kano has said that he has no intention to testify in the Diet. (end)