Abe administration relieved by testimony over document falsification

March 28, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's government and ruling coalition were relieved on Tuesday to see a former Finance Ministry bureaucrat deny the involvement of politicians in document falsification related to a controversial state land sale.

The sworn testimony by the former bureaucrat, Nobuhisa Sagawa, has dispelled suspicions about political involvement in the document falsification, some government and ruling bloc officials said.

Sagawa, former director-general of the ministry's Financial Bureau, told parliament that only the bureau was involved in falsifying the documents on the land deal with private school operator Moritomo Gakuen, once linked to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's wife, Akie.

The government and ruling coalition want to put the document tampering behind them after the scandal weighed heavily on public support for the Abe cabinet, sources familiar with the situation said.

Speaking to reporters, Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said that the involvement of politicians, such as the prime minister, in the document falsification was one of the key points at issue, and that the testimony made it clear that there was no such involvement.

"What's important now is an early enactment of legislation submitted to parliament," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference.

But opposition lawmakers claimed that Sagawa's testimony has deepened doubts over the scandal as he only denied the influence by politicians, while refusing to clarify his involvement and why the documents in question were altered.

They contend that the document falsification resulted from ministry officials acting on the unspoken wishes of the prime minister and his wife.

"The unfaithful testimony has fueled suspicions," said Tetsuro Fukuyama, secretary-general of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. "We cannot put an end to the scandal," he stressed.

Sagawa dodged all important questions by citing the possibility of him facing criminal prosecution, said Akira Koike, head of the secretariat at the Japanese Communist Party. "Sagawa added more fuel to the scandal," he said.

Even some ruling camp officials voiced their dissatisfaction with Sagawa's testimony.

"Sagawa refused to answer questions so many times," a senior LDP member said.

"I wanted Sagawa to speak about everything," Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of Komeito, the LDP's coalition partner, told reporters.

The Abe administration is expected to remain under pressure from opposition lawmakers as the document falsification scandal remains far from being fully resolved. Jiji Press