Overview
- Professor Hiroyuki Uewaki of Kobe Gakuin University sent a criminal complaint on December 1 to the Hiroshima District Public Prosecutors Office alleging Public Offices Election Law violations by the treasurer of Internal Affairs Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi’s campaign.
- The filing cites press reports and claims at least five receipts were forged for people who deny doing work or receiving pay, and it raises possible false entries and vote-buying via ‘labor’ payments.
- Uewaki said he chose Hiroshima prosecutors because the office has a special criminal division equipped for complex cases.
- Hayashi told a House committee on November 20 that his office judged the matter requires close examination and is conducting internal verification of the records.
- Separately, after a November 28 debate on restarting Tomari nuclear unit 3, Hokkaido’s Communist caucus on December 2 asked the assembly speaker for an apology and preventive steps over a reported heckle of “now is the time for emergency gun hunt.”