渡辺代表借入金 「もろもろ」で８億円が通るか

The Yomiuri Shimbun March 28, 2014
Watanabe must give solid, believable account of how ¥800 million was used
渡辺代表借入金　「もろもろ」で８億円が通るか（3月28日付・読売社説）

What on earth did an opposition party leader use the ¥800 million he borrowed for? Providing an answer to this question is his duty as the leader of a political party.
　８億円もの借入金を一体何に使ったのか。公党の党首として国民の疑問に答えてもらいたい。

It has come to light that Yoshiaki Yoshida, chairman of the cosmetics company DHC Corp. and a supporter of Your Party leader Yoshimi Watanabe, loaned the politician ¥300 million about two weeks before the 2010 House of Councillors election and another ¥500 million a month before the 2012 vote for the House of Representatives.
　みんなの党の渡辺代表を支援していた化粧品販売会社ディーエイチシーの吉田嘉明会長が、２０１０年参院選の直前に３億円、１２年衆院選の直前に５億円を渡辺氏に貸していたことが明らかになった。

Yoshida said he loaned ¥800 million to Watanabe as “election funds.” But neither reports on Watanabe’s campaign finances nor income and expenditure statements for his political funds mention the loans. It is possible Watanabe will be suspected of violating the Public Offices Election Law and the Political Funds Control Law.
　吉田会長は「選挙資金として貸した」と証言した。だが、渡辺氏の選挙運動費用や政治資金の収支報告書に８億円の記載はない。公職選挙法や政治資金規正法に違反する可能性がある。

In a news conference Thursday, Watanabe claimed the money he borrowed was “purely intended for my personal support.”
　渡辺氏は記者会見で、「純粋に渡辺個人を応援してもらう」趣旨で借りたものだと強調した。

Asked what he used the money for, Watanabe said it had been spent “for various purposes deemed necessary for a politician” and said some of the money had been used to finance conference and travel expenses. He spoke with no apparent awareness of the possible illegality of his behavior, even pointing out that he had repaid part of the loans.
　使途の内訳は「政治家として生きていく上で必要なもろもろ」とし、会議費や旅費などに充てたと語った。違法性の認識はなく、一部は返済したとも弁明した。

It seems that Watanabe hopes to ride out the scandal by insisting that the loans were for his personal use.
　あくまで個人の借り入れだとして、切り抜けたいのだろう。

Parallel with Inose case

But there are parallels between the Watanabe loans and the money scandal surrounding former Tokyo Gov. Naoki Inose, in that both received a huge sum of money in the immediate run-up to an election. If Watanabe argues that the money was not for use in election campaigns, then it falls to him to explain in specific terms just how he spent it.
　しかし、選挙を間近に控えた時期に巨額の資金提供を受けたという点では、猪瀬直樹・前東京都知事を巡る不祥事と似た構図である。渡辺氏が、選挙目的ではないと言うのなら、何に使ったのか具体的に説明する必要がある。

Even if the money was strictly a personal loan, many factors remain that cannot be overlooked.
　仮に、個人の借入金としても看過できない点が少なくない。

The loans from Yoshida are not included in the outstanding loans detailed in a mandatory report of his personal assets. He said it was “a clerical error” and that he “wants to correct it,” but it is unlikely the public will accept it if he shrugs off the transfer of such an enormous sum as a simple clerical mistake.
　自らの資産等報告書の借入金残高に吉田会長からの借入金がきちんと反映されていない。渡辺氏は「事務的なミスで訂正したい」と釈明したが、これほどの巨額なやり取りを単なるミスというのでは国民には理解されまい。

It is hard to accept that Watanabe did not prepare documents acknowledging a loan of ¥500 million.
　５億円を借りながら、借用書を作らなかったのも不可解だ。

Watanabe said he would have the chairman of the party’s ethics committee probe any potential illegality in association with the borrowed money. But it is questionable whether suspicions can be eliminated solely through an in-house investigation.
　渡辺氏は、借入金に法に触れる部分がないかなどについて、党の倫理委員長に調査をゆだねるというが、身内だけで疑惑を十分晴らすことができるだろうか。

Your Party has faced criticism for some time that its management is not democratic, with the party strongly characterized as a “private shop” that defers to Watanabe for all decisions on party matters.
　みんなの党はかねて、渡辺氏が党務を仕切る「個人商店」的な色彩が強く、党運営が民主的ではないと批判されてきたからだ。

Kenji Eda, who broke with Your Party due to a feud with Watanabe and formed the Yui no To party, said that Watanabe managed state subsidies paid to the party and legislation expenses alone, without consulting other party executives.
　渡辺氏との確執で離党し、結いの党を結成した江田憲司氏は、政党交付金や立法事務費を渡辺氏が差配し、幹部との協議はなかったと指摘している。

By taking advantage of personal ties with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Watanabe has promoted a stance of serving as a “responsible opposition party” by cooperating with the Abe administration on a policy-by-policy basis. Watanabe actively promotes changes to the interpretation of the Constitution that would make it possible to exercise the right to collective self-defense, a move backed by Abe.
　渡辺氏は、安倍首相とのパイプを生かし、個別の政策で安倍政権と協力する「責任野党」を標榜ひょうぼうしてきた。首相が進める集団的自衛権行使を可能にする憲法解釈の見直しにも前向きだ。

Whether Watanabe will be able to maintain his political leadership is a matter of concern to Abe as well.
　渡辺氏が今後も求心力を維持できるかどうかは、首相にとっても関心事だろう。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, March 28, 2014)
（2014年3月28日01時26分  読売新聞）