House of Councilors Budget Committee "Sakura Viewing Association" and IR corruption questions, January 29 13:09

In the Diet, the House of Councilors Budget Committee also began deliberating on the revised budget for the current fiscal year. In the morning, opposition parties asked questions such as the "Cherry Blossom Watching Party" and the case of corruption involving IR = integrated resort facilities.

The supplementary budget for this year was approved by the majority of the members of the House of Representatives on 28th and sent to the Upper House.

In response, the Upper House Budget Committee began deliberating a revised budget proposal, and in the morning the Constitutional Democratic Party and the National Democratic Party asked questions.

Among them, the Constitutional Democratic Party's Secretary-General Renhou and the House of Councilors over the "Cherry Blossom Viewing Party" said, "Executive spending is banned by three principles: prohibition of excessive spending, prohibition of diversion, and independence of the fiscal year. The Abe Cabinet Viewing Cherry Blossom is about three times more than the budget approved by the Diet. Is there no problem in terms of fiscal democracy? "

In response, Prime Minister Abe said, "It was not desirable that the gap between the budget and expenditure of the cherry blossom viewing party was increasing."

In addition, regarding his own accountability, Prime Minister Abe stated, "I do not have to judge the perceptions of the people. I am trying to answer questions as much as possible."

He further stated that his recommendation for the office was "checking in the office is limited. The ultimate responsibility is the Cabinet Office."

In addition, regarding the contractor who provided food and drink at the "Sakura Watching Party", Prime Minister Abe made clear that the chairpersons of this contractor were Mrs. Akie and an acquaintance, and "I clearly stated. I have never received a request. "

The National Democratic Party's Eri Tokunaga said in a case related to the corruption incident involving the integrated resort facility: "The public is worried that the incident could raise distrust and make the IR and casino businesses a hotbed of profit and fraud. If the case is not clear, how do you think that it is highly likely that the selection of the business was not done fairly and fairly? "

In response, Prime Minister Abe said, “In order to promote IR, public understanding is very important, and we are also careful to ensure fairness and transparency, taking into account the discussions at the Casino Management Committee and the Diet. I want to move forward. "

The Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism responsible for the IR business said, "In the draft basic policy, a committee of experts will be set up by a third party to certify areas for IR development, and the results of the examination and the evaluation process will be announced. You have to be accountable so that you don't have a casino. I myself adhere to the principle of not receiving requests from casino operators. "