WIO NEWS


 

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's popularity has further depleted with fresh corruption allegations emerging this week over the secret funds Tokyo had at its disposal that were allegedly used to sway the vote for the country to host the 2020 Olympics.

According to a report by the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on Thursday (Nov 30), the accusations regarding the scandal centre on the unlimited funds for Tokyo to win over members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) who chose the host city for the Olympics, and $135,000 was spent on photo albums for IOC individuals.

These suggestions prompted the opposition on Monday to question Prime Minister Kishida in parliament. Citing analysts, the report said that Kishida's support has already been declining over other challenges, and a renewed attack on the government's handling of the Olympics is the last thing he needed.


The secret funds

On Nov 17, Hiroshi Hase, a former leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party who is now governor of Ishikawa prefecture, said in a speech that he provided gifts to IOC members amid their deliberations over the 2020 Olympics host city.

The report said that Tokyo was up against Turkey's Istanbul and Spain's Madrid when the vote was held in 2013. Hase was the head of the Tokyo committee and said he was given access at that time to discretionary funds- which were also known as secret funds.

He said then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (who was assassinated in 2022) told him to make sure he won, and that the government would give him as much money required as there were secret funds, the report said citing Kyodo News. 

Hase added that he arranged for the creation of photo albums, each costing around $1,350, detailed the sporting and political careers of 100 IOC members, and travelled across the world to deliver these gifts to them. The report said that provision of gifts to IOC members would be a violation of the committee's code of ethics.

Days after this speech, the Ishikawa governor said that his remarks were inappropriate and could cause misunderstanding, and he retracted them.

 

In parliament, oppn demands probe into Hase's remarks

Opposition leaders in parliament demanded Prime Minister Kishida to investigate Hase's remarks.

The prime minister, meanwhile said that he would like to think about concrete responses following a careful consideration about the circumstances surrounding the retraction.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno attempted to stifle the issue by saying that to maintain national secrecy, the funds were being used as expenses for which it was inappropriate to reveal their use.