Akira Amari was seen by many as a rising star in Japanese politics. Many had also been sensing that he might even replace prime minister Shinzo Abe in case a change of guard turns out to be a necessity for Japan’s main ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
He was given one of the most important and influential portfolios in the Abe cabinet with the dual responsibility of leading the country in important trade negotiations like the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Doha Round of World Trade Organisation (WTO), as well as steering Japan out of economic stagnation by steady implementation of Abenomics, the economic policy of the prime minister targeting at ending the deflationary cycle and boosting stock prices by pumping easy money to the market.
He also belonged to the small group of Abe ministers who held the same cabinet post in both Abe administrations since December 2012. Thus, Amari turned out to be the most trusted lieutenant on whom the prime minister relied heavily and had taken him as a trusted colleague to depend on important policy matters.
By winning such unwavering trust of the country’s most powerful political figure, Amari probably had taken it for granted that nothing could go wrong as long as he served the boss in good faith, forgetting about the other reality that the more he came closer to the pinnacle of power, the more he was under strong scrutiny of those who would like to see his downfall as a significant gain in the process of dislodging the government.
And number of those on the other side of this divide had been on the rise in recent years as the economic policy of the Abe administration has pushed many into the corner where they are finding life turning increasingly difficult. Many were also extremely unhappy with Amari’s self-praising assessment of Abenomics and trade negotiations, the two prime economic measures of the current administration that they like to blame for their misery.
Hence, they had seen Amari’s choosing of wording not only arrogant, but vulgar as well. So, many of those on that side of the divide had been waiting long for the approach of the right moment to launch a concerted campaign to outsmart the prime minister’s most trusted aide and were busy gathering enough evidences in hand. For them the right moment signalled its appearance with the publication of an investigative report in weekly news magazine Shukan Bunshun, where it was alleged that Amari had taken bribe from an unnamed construction company in exchange of political favour.
Opposition parties at the Japanese Diet were waiting eagerly for such an opportunity to emerge, and they didn’t waste time to take the issue to the parliamentary level, threatening the disruption of ongoing debates on a number of pressing issues. From then on Japan had seen a spectacular political drama staged over the period of a week ending in teardrops from a once powerful figure, and thus signalling the end of his colourful political career in total disgrace.
The weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun reported last week that Amari and his secretaries had accepted around 12 million yen from a construction company and the minister and his group of close coteries also had been entertained lavishly at upscale Tokyo restaurants on a number of occasions by the same company. The acts violate Japan’s political funding law as politicians are supposed to declare sources of their funding and those holding public offices are to strictly follow guidelines that prohibit getting favourable treatment from any group that might be seen as a clear evidence of conflict of interest.
The initial reaction of the minister to the allegations reported in Shukan Bunshun was a clear denial of anything like that happening ever. Subsequently, as it became clearer that the news magazine had enough documentary and other evidences to justify its position, Amari softened his standing by blaming his memory, saying that he could not remember clearly what exactly had happened and needed time to clear out the blurred parts of his memory.
Shukan Bunshun had further alleged that Amari received envelopes containing 500,000 yen from an employee of a construction company on two occasions in November 2013 and February 2014 in exchange of helping the company settling a dispute in its favour between the firm and a public housing corporation named Urban Renaissance Agency. The Magazine also claimed that after receiving the envelopes, Amari had hidden them in his pocket. The minister’s initial reply to the allegations was that he had no recollection of anything like that happening. However, later he acknowledged receipt of envelopes, but said he told his subordinates to properly declare the money as donations, which, according to his own version, his subordinates failed to do and thus putting him into the hotbed of funding scandal.
In a follow-up report published after the minister’s initial denial, the magazine claimed that the total sacrifice the company made for the minister and his secretaries amounted to millions of yen. It also alleged that two of the minister’s secretaries exploited the firm by dining and drinking at expensive pubs and cabaret houses at the company’s expense. From then on it became clear that Amari’s heydays were soon coming to an end and his abrupt announcement of quitting the cabinet now appears to be a carefully calculated move to minimise damage to the Abe administration.
It is not clear yet how far the episode might influence voter behaviour at the upcoming upper house election of the Japanese Diet scheduled for this summer. However, losing Amari’s leadership might disrupt the implementation of certain policies related to TPP agreement as well as Abenomics. He was all along seen as a key figure behind Abenomics and his departure might signal a shift in official assessment of the economic programme. But the whole episode showed once again that the money politics that LDP has been accused of pursuing from the very early days of its existence has not yet come to an end and time has come for Japan’s main ruling party to start again a through overhauling of a system that gives birth to politicians who are simply too greedy and narrowly focused on personal gains, and also paves the way for them to climb the ladder of leadership with such an eas
