The son was exploded with “political and business collusion”, and the Yoshihide Suga regime “made worse.”
The eldest son of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga was accused of improperly entertaining officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which immediately caused an uproar.
On the 4th, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsunobu said at a press conference that “the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is investigating this matter”.
“If there is a violation of the national civil service ethics regulations, it will damage the trust of the people and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications should take corresponding measures.
Yoshihide Suga said that he “has no knowledge” of the matter and “didn’t consider” asking his son about the situation in person.
However, according to Japan’s “Asahi Shimbun” report on the 4th, Yoshihide Suga admitted that he had spoken with the eldest son on the phone.
Japan’s “Bunharu Weekly” broke the news on the 3rd that Suga Yoshihide’s eldest son, Suga Masago, had four improper banquets for senior officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and presented gifts from October to December last year.
Suga Masatsu briefly served as Secretary of the Minister of General Affairs from 2006 to 2007, when Yoshihide Suga served as Minister of General Affairs during the first Abe regime. In 2008, Suga entered the Tohoku News Agency, which is engaged in satellite broadcasting and TV program production related businesses.
He is currently an executive of the company and concurrently a director of the group’s subsidiary. It is worth noting that the Tohoku News Agency once provided Yoshihide Suga with a political donation of 5 million yen (about $45k).
The four senior officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications hosted by Suga Masazu are Yawaki Yasuhiko, who is believed to be promoted to the undersecretary of general affairs this summer, Machito Yoshida, the deliberation officer, and Akimoto Yoshitoku, director of the Bureau of Information and Circulation, who is in charge of satellite broadcasting licensing affairs, and his subordinates.
Hirosin Yumoto. According to reports, the four senior officials involved received banquets and received souvenirs, taxi coupons and other gifts at high-end restaurants in Tokyo where the per capita consumption amount exceeded 40,000 yen. Suga Masato was accompanied on the spot every time.
According to regulations, Japanese civil servants must apply to the ethics supervisor of their unit even if they spend more than 10,000 yen per capita when they have a meal with stakeholders.
The four senior officials involved did not report the incident even under the AA system. Prepare, go to the appointment privately.
The moment they took over the premium chocolate from Suga Masaoka, they were caught by the Japanese media.
The Northeast News Agency responded that it did not consider itself a stakeholder, and the banquet of officials was only to exchange information.
Yoshihide Suga opposed political hereditary inheritance and was proud of his son’s employment in a private enterprise. His wife and children’s low profile once won him a lot of favor.
The scandal of “collusion between politics and business” has undoubtedly broken Yoshihide Suga’s “personal design”.
According to reports, during the pandemic, the government called on the people to reduce gatherings.
The reason why the cadres of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications “running against the current” must be because Yoshihide Suga, as the prime minister, has strong personnel decision-making power.
Some commentators believe that this scandal is no different for the Yoshihide Suga regime under the circumstances of weak anti-pandemic and low approval ratings.
