Motegi top fundraiser in Abe Cabinet

December 9, 2017

Tokyo- Economic and fiscal policy minister Toshimitsu Motegi was the top political fundraiser in the cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2016, a Jiji Press tally of reports submitted to the government by political parties and groups showed Friday.

Motegi raised 156.55 million yen in political funds, followed by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso with 150.34 million yen and Abe with 146.46 million yen.

On average, Abe and his 19 ministers raised 81.73 million yen.

Six ministers collected more than 100 million yen each. They included education minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko in addition to the top three.

Motegi collected about half of his money, 77.42 million yen, through political fundraising parties he held four times in Tokyo.

In donations, he received a total of 44.54 million yen from more than 200 groups and a total of 1.3 million yen from the lobbying groups of the Japan Medical Association and the Japan Pharmaceutical Association.

About half of the money Aso collected was through donations. Those from companies and groups totaled 69.62 million yen, the largest amount in the cabinet.

Abe raised 68.29 million yen from groups such as the lobbying groups of the Japan Medical Association and the Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Associations of Japan at three fundraising parties held in Tokyo.

Abe was the top fundraiser among the leaders of eight major political parties in the country for the third straight year. Party of Hope leader Yuichiro Tamaki was a distant second with 54.67 million yen.

Among the 20 cabinet ministers, Hayashi was the top earner from business income, including revenue from fundraising parties, with 98.97 million yen.

Seko stood out in the amount he raised through donations from individuals, with 62.40 million yen, the most in the cabinet and far more than Abe's 25.66 million yen.

At the bottom of the list was transport minister Keiichi Ishii with 13.12 million yen. Jiji Press