Naoki Inose, the embattled governor of Tokyo, said he would decline his salary for a year in a self-imposed punishment for the trouble caused by a loan scandal he is embroiled in.
Speaking at a Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly committee Monday, Inose said he would take responsibility for the scandal which allege he had received 50 million yen from the Tokushukai hospital group ahead of his election last December.
Inose admitted he had accepted the money as a personal loan and that he has since returned the amount.
“I’d like to give up my governor’s salary for one year as my way to take responsibility. So, I’m thinking of proposing an ordinance enabling that to the current assembly session,” Inose told the general committee session.
The assembly would have to pass an ordinance to allow Inose to refuse his salary. The monthly salary for the chief of the capital currently stands at 1.33 million yen.
Inose was summoned to the assembly’s 15-member general affairs committee to determine why he failed to disclose the 50 million yen in the political funds report he issued after being elected governor last year.
He had earlier apologized to the regular assembly for accepting the money from Lower House politician Takeshi Tokuda, the second son of Tokushukai founder Torao Tokuda.
The scandal-ridden hospital chain group has come under probe in September for allegedly violating election law when it recruited employees to help in Tokuda’s successful Lower House campaign in December. Six arrests have been made in relation to the scandal.
By Maesie Bertumen
Image: Zimbio
