英字新聞

The Yomiuri Shimbun(Jul. 2, 2009)
Probe, full clarification of Hatoyama case needed
鳩山氏架空献金　調査も説明も極めて不十分だ（7月2日付・読売社説）

In the wake of an illegal donation case involving former Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa that saw him resign his post, a political-fund scandal involving current party leader Yukio Hatoyama has surfaced.
　違法献金事件で辞任した民主党の小沢一郎前代表に続き、鳩山代表にも「政治とカネ」をめぐる不祥事が発覚した。

Hatoyama admitted at a press conference Tuesday that his political fund management organization had made false statements in its fund reports, listing individual donations from about 90 people who had not actually donated money, including a number of deceased people, and he offered a public apology. The amount of misstated funds totaled 21.77 million yen from 2005 to 2008.
　鳩山代表は記者会見で自らの資金管理団体の政治資金収支報告書に、故人を含め約９０人の架空の個人献金を虚偽記載していたことを認め、謝罪した。２００５〜０８年の虚偽記載は総額２１７７万円にも上る。

Hatoyama's government-paid first secretary is said to have dealt with the fictitious donations when he transferred Hatoyama's individually donated funds to the fund management organization.
　公設第１秘書が鳩山代表の個人資金を団体に繰り入れる際、別人の献金として処理したという。

Although the combined amount of fictitious donations is huge and each apparently violates the Political Funds Control Law, the investigation into and explanation of the scandal have been extremely insufficient. Hatoyama should provide a convincing explanation to the public after a thorough investigation into the facts has been conducted.
　多額の架空献金であり、政治資金規正法違反が明白なのに、調査も説明も極めて不十分だ。鳩山代表は、事実関係を徹底的に調査したうえ、国民が納得できるよう説明を尽くすべきだ。

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Why so many small donations?

The focus now is on why the secretary invented so many fictitious donors.
　焦点は、なぜ秘書が多数の架空の献金者を仕立てたのかだ。

According to the Hatoyama side, the secretary had failed to make requests for donations from the lawmaker's supporters, so he tried to cover up his negligence. But this is a far from convincing explanation. It is difficult not to think there may have been reasons why the money could not have been dealt with as standard donations from Hatoyama or loans to the organization.
　鳩山代表側は、秘書が支持者への寄付の依頼を怠り、それを隠そうとしたと言うが、とても納得できる説明ではない。代表本人の寄付や貸付金にできない理由があったと見られても仕方がない。

In the past three years, the amount of small-sum anonymous individual donations to Hatoyama's fund management organization topped 100 million yen at the very least. We wonder whether other donations from fictitious donors may be found among those donations, and what of the donations made prior to 2005.
　資金管理団体には最近３年間だけで、小口の匿名の個人献金が総額１億円以上ある。この中にも架空献金が含まれているのではないか。０４年以前はどうなのか。

Hatoyama has urged Ozawa to fulfill his responsibility to explain what occurred regarding Nishimatsu Construction Co.'s alleged illegal donations to Ozawa's office. Hatoyama should be aware, therefore, that he too must clearly respond to the string of questions concerning his own scandal.
　鳩山代表は、西松建設の違法献金事件で小沢前代表に説明責任を果たすよう促していた。自らの問題に関する一連の疑問について明確に答えねばなるまい。

As with Ozawa's case, it involves a government-paid first secretary working in unison with a lawmaker. Any excuse that claims what was done occurred at the discretion of the secretary alone cannot be accepted. Hatoyama has a grave responsibility to supervise his secretary.
　小沢前代表と同様、公設第１秘書は政治家本人と一体の関係にある。「秘書が独断でやった」との言い訳は通用しない。鳩山代表には重大な監督責任がある。

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DPJ cannot stand aloof

It does not stand to reason that the DPJ, for its part, can remain an onlooker, claiming the scandal is an individual matter.
　民主党も、鳩山代表の「個人の問題」として、傍観しているのはおかしい。
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DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada has said that Hatoyama has fulfilled his accountability over the case. However, Okada's remark does not chime with the public's growing awareness of the matter.
岡田幹事長の「説明責任は果たされた」という発言は、一般国民の認識と乖離(かいり)がある。

In light of the Nishimatsu donation scandal, the DPJ has submitted a bill to the Diet to revise the Political Funds Control Law so it totally bans corporate and organization donations, starting three years from now.
　民主党は西松建設事件を踏まえて、企業・団体献金を３年後に全面禁止する政治資金規正法改正案を国会に提出している。

The bill was crafted based on the idea that all corporate donations are evil and individual donations are virtuous. However, this cannot be said to always be the case, as shown by the Hatoyama scandal in which the system of individual donations was abused. In addition, the freedom to engage in political activity should be remain open to corporations.
　「企業献金は悪で、個人献金は善」との発想だが、個人献金を悪用していた今回の例を見れば、説得力がない。企業にも政治活動の自由は認められるべきだろう。

The DPJ is not the only political party to be beset by political-fund scandals. Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai and Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano, both lawmakers of the Liberal Democratic Party, have been singled out for their opaque corporate donations and have been grilled in the Diet.
　政治資金の問題があるのは民主党だけではない。自民党の二階経済産業相や与謝野財務・金融相も不透明な企業献金が指摘され、国会で追及を受けた。

An audit system covering the expenditures of political organizations is to start this fiscal year. The way in which revenue is raised also must be checked thoroughly. The ruling and opposition parties should hold in-depth discussions on what kind of system would be most effective.
　政治団体の支出については０９年分から監査制度が始まる。収入も厳しいチェックが必要だ。どんな制度が効果的か、与野党は第三者も交えて議論を深めるべきだ。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, July 2, 2009)
（2009年7月2日01時14分 読売新聞）