Photo/Illutration Toshihiro Nikai announces that he will not seek re-election at the Liberal Democratic Party’s headquarters in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward on March 25. (Masaaki Kobayashi)

Ensnarled in a slush fund scandal, ruling Liberal Democratic Party longtime kingmaker Toshihiro Nikai announced that he will not seek re-election on March 25. 

“Once again, I deeply apologize to the public for causing distrust in politics over the faction’s political funding issue," Nikai, 85, a former LDP secretary-general, said at a news conference. 

The focus of the debate over Nikai has been on his punishment in the wake of the scandal involving the Nikai faction, of which he is the chairman.

Nikai said that he had told Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that he will not run in the next Lower House election, saying, “At this time, I will clarify my political responsibility.”

Nikai further explained at the news conference the reason for his decision not to run: “The former treasurer of the faction and my secretary have already been criminally punished, and all the political responsibility for this lies with myself as the person responsible for supervision.”

In the fallout from the scandal regarding the Nikai faction, the treasurer of the faction and Nikai’s personal secretary were charged with failing to report donations on the political fund balance sheet.

The amount that was not reported over the past five years was 35.26 million yen ($233,000), the largest among incumbent LDP Diet members.

When asked by a reporter if the timing of his decision not to run for re-election is about taking responsibility for the faction’s failure to report income, or related to his age, Nikai said, “Is there an age limit?”

The reporter followed up by saying there is no age limit and asked if he took his age into consideration.

Nikai said, “You will reach that age, too. Idiot.”

Nikai was elected 13 times to the Lower House from Wakayama Prefecture’s No. 3 district. He served as the longest-serving secretary-general in the Abe and Suga administrations for approximately five years.

Nikai expressed gratitude to his hometown supporters at the news conference, saying, “I would like to express my deepest gratitude once again to the passionate support from the voters who elected me to this position.”

Residents in his constituency did not express great surprise at the news.

A 60-year-old taxi driver, a resident of Gobo, Wakayama Prefecture, said he had voted for Nikai in past Lower House elections.

The driver said Nikai has been a powerful politician and he feels the roads in Gobo have been improved as he drives around the city and its neighboring area in his cab.

However, regarding the slush fund scandal, he said, “I guess when you have been a politician for a long time, things like this happen. It’s time to move on.”

A woman in her 60s who lives in Hidakagawa in the prefecture said she was not really surprised to hear the news.

“He’s old in age,” she said. “I knew the time would come sometime in the not-too-distant future.”

As for the ongoing scandal, she said, “He has not taken responsibility for it. He has not explained it. It doesn’t mean that if he quits then that’s the end of the matter.”

A 75-year-old man who lives in Gobo echoed the sentiment.

“He hasn’t explained enough about the slush fund issue,” he said. “Given his age, I think he should have retired earlier.”

About Nikai’s achievements, he said, “Only a few people in the local community, such as those in the construction industry, have benefited (from his political career).”

“He has been a Diet member for a long time, but nothing has changed in the city,” he said.

As for Nikai’s decision not to run, the man said, “I expected that he would not run in the next Lower House election. It’s inevitable.”

Related News