Photo/Illutration Lower House member Masatoshi Akimoto in 2021 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

A bribery scandal involving a lawmaker alleged to have taken bribes in return for helping a private company win wind development projects should not be allowed to hinder efforts to promote renewable energy or Japan’s progress toward a carbon-free society.

The big question is whether the government’s renewable energy policy was influenced by the disgraced Diet member’s lobbying activities.

We urged the Kishida administration to carry out a full-fledged investigation into the allegations and provide a satisfactory explanation to dispel public doubts aroused by the scandal.

Tokyo prosecutors on Sept. 27 indicted Lower House member Masatoshi Akimoto, who recently left the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, for accepting 72.86 million yen ($489,000) in bribes from Japan Wind Development Co. in exchange for favorable questioning in the Diet to help the company’s offshore wind farm business.

Prosecutors also indicted Akimoto the same day for fraudulently receiving, through a company run by an acquaintance, 2 million yen in government benefits provided under a program to cushion the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Diet member clearly betrayed the trust vested in him by voters if he abused the program designed to relieve businesses struggling due to the pandemic.

Akimoto, elected four times, is a self-claimed advocate for renewables, a rarity within the LDP, and has developed close relations with related industries in this emerging policy field. As solar power generation is struggling to grow, backing offshore wind power, considered a trump card for promoting renewables, is crucial. But no legislator should be allowed to exploit this business for personal gain.

Akimoto also received massive funds from the former president of Japan Wind Development to help fund his racehorse activities, but has denied the funds were bribes. He reportedly denies all the allegations of bribery and fraud. The charges against him need to be clarified in a court of law.

In the meantime, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry asserts that its renewable energy policy was never affected in any way by Akimoto’s political intervention. However, the undeniable fact is that the criteria for selecting the operators of offshore wind farms were revised after Akimoto’s parliamentary questions.

The seeds of the scandal were sown in December 2021, when public bidding to select operators of planned offshore wind farms was held.

A consortium of companies led by major trading house Mitsubishi Corp. won the bid for all three areas designated for the projects in Akita and Chiba prefectures by offering the lowest electricity sale price. This left Japan Wind Development and others out of the potentially lucrative projects.

In asking questions about offshore wind power at the Diet in February the following year, Akimoto demanded revisions to the selection criteria to place importance not only on sales prices but also on the speed of plans.

Koichi Hagiuda, who at that time had the industry portfolio, delayed the process of holding the next bid and, subsequently, the criteria were changed in line with Akimoto’s demands. The day after the revision, Akimoto allegedly received around 10 million yen in cash at his office in the Diet members’ office building.

Instead of simply claiming the modifications to the selection criteria were made through appropriate procedures, the government should review the process and provide an exhaustive explanation.

Without clarifying the fog of doubt hanging over the matter, the government cannot hope to secure the necessary understanding and cooperation from the public and businesses for expanding renewables.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 29