Japanese politics appears to be at the mercy of a widening pension scandal as one political leader after another bows out of posts for failing to pay national pension premiums. The latest casualty is Mr. Ichiro Ozawa, who on Monday announced he will not succeed Naoto Kan as president of the Democratic Party of Japan. Mr. Kan had resigned from the post a week earlier following the sudden exit of Mr. Yasuo Fukuda as chief Cabinet secretary.
Mr. Ozawa told a news conference that he had not contributed to the national pension fund for six years starting in April 1980, although Diet members were not required at the time to join the plan. "People's distrust of the pension system has reached a boiling point, and I need to take responsibility as a politician," he said, adding it would be "inappropriate" for him to head the DPJ, the largest opposition party.
Now the accusing finger is pointed at Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who revealed last week that he had skipped contributions for nearly seven years between the 1960s and 1980s, although he brushed aside any "responsibility."