We are all aware of the supposed crookedness of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, as well as the close ties he’s kept to his ethnic homeland, particularly as a means of staying away from Peruvian law. However, I did not think that a Japanese political party would be THIS foolish:
Fujimori asked to run in July election
Tuesday, June 19, 2007 at 14:09 EDTSANTIAGO – Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, under house arrest in Chile and facing the possibility of extradition to Peru, has been tapped by a minor Japanese opposition party to run in the upcoming House of Councillors election, party sources said Monday. Fujimori, 68, has apparently given no clear-cut reply on the offer from Japan’s People’s New Party, which plans to continue trying to persuade him to run, the sources said.
If Fujimori declares his candidacy, it is believed he will be the first former leader of a country other than Japan to run in a Japanese national election. PNP acting leader Shizuka Kamei, himself a senior Japanese politician, and Fujimori have known each other for a long time, and an aide to Kamei was sent to Santiago on Monday to visit Fujimori to make the election offer, the sources said. Kamei is believed to admire Fujimori’s political skills, seen in such accomplishments during his 10-year rule of Peru beginning in 1990 as resolving territorial disputes with Ecuador and rebuilding the Peruvian economy.
As one commenter at Japan Today wrote: “So even mass murderers are better than the LDP these days…”
Farty (that was his username, I kid you not) has a point. How can any political party think about calling up someone who is wanted for political corruption and extralegality in his previous constituency? While Kokumin Shintou (People’s New Party) are hardly a challenge for the LDP, that is really not the point. This is like (although to a lesser degree) David Cameron asking Augusto Pinochet to run for a constituency in the next general election…
I never cease to be astounded by Japanese politics. This is one example of why.
Abduction Politics 
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Hey, I just returned from trip in Italy. I have to say after so many surprising stories about unusual dealings in post war Japanese politics, I have become almost half expectant that something like Fujimori being asked to run for the Diet by a party happens more than one would think. Japanese politics seems At least it was a tiny party and not the LDP or DPJ attempting to recruit him. That would have shocked me much, much more. But as you said, what goes on in the heads of politicians who make such decisions as this one? Maybe we should be asking what is not going on inside their heads?
Perhaps so!
We’ll find out when Fujimori makes his final decision :)
We shall. Fujimori had spoken earlier, perhaps it was this year or few before, about returning to Peru. But Peru’s courts made it clear that he would be arrested as soon as he landed. So I guess he’s going to stay in Japan for good for perhaps the rest of his life. Most likely America and most western european nations have extradition treaties signed with Peru.
The biggest problem, I imagine, is getting him out of Chile where he is currently under house arrest…
I actually didn’t realize he was in Chile. For some reason I had thought he was in Japan currently! My bad
I guess there’s a lot to be said for just drawing attention and getting headlines. At least more people have heard of the Kokumin Shinto now.
A case of all PR is good PR? That is quite disturbing for politics….
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[…] I, Shingen expresses disbelief at the decision, writing that “It’s like they don’t even know him“: We are all aware of the supposed crookedness of former Peruvian President Alberto […]