▼ Education Ministry Finds Documents Apparently Supporting Abe Favoritism Claims
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TOKYO - The education ministry said Thursday that its internal probe has found documents similar in substance to those presented by opposition lawmakers supporting allegations of favoritism against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The probe was relaunched recently after news reports and an account by a former senior ministry official strongly suggested that such documents did indeed exist, contrary to the ministry's repeated insistence that it could not find them.
Education minister Hirokazu Matsuno apologized at a press conference for the ministry's failure to locate the papers in question during the previous investigation.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology looked into a total of 19 documents and interviewed 19 officials in addition to seven others subject to the previous probe.
The documents included one allegedly describing a plan to build a new university department in a specially deregulated economic zone in western Japan as being "in line with the prime minister's wishes."
The government announced in January that the new department will open in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, in April 2018. The opposition Democratic Party has criticized the government as proceeding with the intention to select the project from the beginning.
The plan to open a department of veterinary medicine concerns a university run by the Kake Educational Institution, of which Abe's close friend Kotaro Kake serves as chairman.
Regional revitalization minister Kozo Yamamoto told reporters on Thursday that the Cabinet Office, which is in charge of the special zone, is also considering conducting its own investigation over the documents.
After an opposition lawmaker claimed in parliament last month that Abe may have had a hand in the decision, the education ministry carried out an initial probe. The ministry announced on May 19 that it had "not been able to confirm the existence" of the documents in question.
But Kihei Maekawa, formerly the ministry's top bureaucrat, and serving staff have said they recall such documents having been shared within the ministry.
The fresh probe, announced by Matsuno last Friday, has involved hearings with officials and a search of shared folders in parts of the ministry that deal with the special zones and decisions on university projects.
The education ministry's investigation comes ahead of the end on Sunday of the ordinary Diet session that convened in January.
© KYODO
The probe was relaunched recently after news reports and an account by a former senior ministry official strongly suggested that such documents did indeed exist, contrary to the ministry's repeated insistence that it could not find them.
Education minister Hirokazu Matsuno apologized at a press conference for the ministry's failure to locate the papers in question during the previous investigation.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology looked into a total of 19 documents and interviewed 19 officials in addition to seven others subject to the previous probe.
The documents included one allegedly describing a plan to build a new university department in a specially deregulated economic zone in western Japan as being "in line with the prime minister's wishes."
The government announced in January that the new department will open in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, in April 2018. The opposition Democratic Party has criticized the government as proceeding with the intention to select the project from the beginning.
The plan to open a department of veterinary medicine concerns a university run by the Kake Educational Institution, of which Abe's close friend Kotaro Kake serves as chairman.
Regional revitalization minister Kozo Yamamoto told reporters on Thursday that the Cabinet Office, which is in charge of the special zone, is also considering conducting its own investigation over the documents.
After an opposition lawmaker claimed in parliament last month that Abe may have had a hand in the decision, the education ministry carried out an initial probe. The ministry announced on May 19 that it had "not been able to confirm the existence" of the documents in question.
But Kihei Maekawa, formerly the ministry's top bureaucrat, and serving staff have said they recall such documents having been shared within the ministry.
The fresh probe, announced by Matsuno last Friday, has involved hearings with officials and a search of shared folders in parts of the ministry that deal with the special zones and decisions on university projects.
The education ministry's investigation comes ahead of the end on Sunday of the ordinary Diet session that convened in January.
© KYODO
- June 16, 2017
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