Kobayashi to exit over union cash
Kyodo News
Democratic Party
of Japan lawmaker Chiyomi Kobayashi has conveyed to party officials her intention to step down to take responsibility for a funds scandal connected to her election campaign, a DPJ source said Tuesday.
of Japan lawmaker Chiyomi Kobayashi has conveyed to party officials her intention to step down to take responsibility for a funds scandal connected to her election campaign, a DPJ source said Tuesday.The resignation is expected to deal a major blow to the government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, which has been hit by fund scandals involving Hatoyama himself and DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa.
which has been hit by fund scandals involving Hatoyama himself and DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa.Kobayashi, 41, who is currently serving her second term in the House of Representatives, denied she would resign when she faced reporters at the Diet earlier in the day. She will probably resign later this month after the fiscal 2010 budget is enacted.
If she resigns later but before the current Diet session ends in mid-June, a by-election will likely be held concurrently with the scheduled July House of Councilors election.
On March 1, three senior members of the Hokkaido Teachers Union and the chief accountant of Kobayashi's election office were arrested on suspicion that the union officials provided ¥16 million in illegal donations to her election office before last August's general election, which saw the DPJ sweep to power, ousting the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
The Sapporo District Public Prosecutor's Office questioned Kobayashi in Tokyo in connection with the case on Saturday. She is said to have denied knowledge of the union's donation to her office.
Kobayashi was first elected to the Lower House in 2003 after working as a company employee and serving as a labor union executive, but lost her seat in 2005. She made a comeback in last August's general election by defeating Nobutaka Machimura, a former foreign minister and heavyweight in the LDP.
Arrested for alleged violation of the Political Funds Control Law were Hideki Asada, 50, acting chairman of the Hokkaido Teachers Union, Kentaro Koseki, 54, the secretary general, union accountant Takaaki Nambu, 52, and Michiru Kimura, 46, Kobayashi's campaign accountant.
The Japan Times
