Promises

October 28, 2014

Industry minister says he will sell off TEPCO shares when term ends

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20141028p2g00m0dm060000c.html

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's new industry minister Yoichi Miyazawa said Tuesday he intends to sell off shares of Tokyo Electric Power Co. he possesses when he ends his term, as the opposition camp increases pressure on the minister over a series of scandals.

Miyazawa, who took office just a week ago, has come under fire following the revelation he holds 600 shares in TEPCO, the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, raising questions about the independence of the minister in charge of overseeing the power sector.

"After my term ends, I would like to dispose of all TEPCO shares I possess, and donate all the money to contribute to the revival of Fukushima," Miyazawa told a session of the House of Councillors Committee on Economy, Trade and Industry.

Under the guidelines for ministers adopted by the Cabinet in 2001, ministers are supposed to refrain from stock trading while in office. Miyazawa said he has already entrusted the TEPCO shares to a bank.

Miyazawa also said at a press conference that he will visit the crippled Fukushima plant this Saturday.

Miyazawa became industry minister Oct. 21 after his processor Yuko Obuchi stepped down over a money scandal less than two months after she assumed the post.

In just a week in office, Miyazawa has came under fire as his fund management body was found to have booked an outlay at a bar featuring S&M performances as expenses related to political activities, and the political party chapter he headed when he was a lower house member has received from a foreign-owned firm donations banned under the political funds control law.