Asahi Shimbun: Local politicians have close ties with nuclear plant operator

[kristopher]

Local politicians have close ties with nuclear plant operator
2011/07/15

Television is awash with dirty tricks. Let me cite a few recent examples. A person presented on television as a customer of a thriving pet business was in fact an employee of that business. A woman featured for successfully losing weight with a beverage actually operated a company that sold it. In another program, a person presented as the wealthy buyer of a 1.5 billion yen ($19 million) hotel turned out to be an employee of the company advertising it.

In the confusion over the restart of Genkai nuclear power plant operated by Kyushu Electric Power Co., Saga Prefecture's governor and the mayor of Genkai, the district where the plant is located, have played the roles of local politicians angry at the indecision of central government.

That anger is understandable. But what if, to use analogies with the cases presented above, the two men actually worked for the pet business or the advertising company? It would be a total turnoff.

The father of the governor of Saga Prefecture, Yasushi Furukawa, worked for Kyushu Electric. Furukawa himself was elected with the company's support and received personal donations from a senior executive of the company.

A relative of Hideo Kishimoto...

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201107140359.html