Last year saw 15 local government heads arrested in connection with corruption in the bidding process for public projects. Three of them were the governors of Fukushima, Wakayama and Miyazaki prefectures. The elimination of bid rigging will help local government heads regain the trust of local residents. Clean politics is the cornerstone of local autonomy.
In October, former Gov. Eisaku Sato of Fukushima was arrested on suspicion of bribery, followed by the arrests of Gov. Yoshiki Kimura of Wakayama in November and Gov. Tadahiro Ando of Miyazaki -- both in connection with bid rigging. They are suspected of having favored particular companies as a reward for their support in gubernatorial elections.
The spate of arrests has led the nation's 47 governors to adopt a nonbinding guideline for eradication of bid rigging. Its main pillar is a call for abolishing as soon as possible tenders by specified bidders. It says that, in principle, firms to be awarded work with a contract value of 10 million yen or more should be selected through a competitive bidding process.