Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday his ruling Liberal Democratic Party will have to come up with new rules on how to properly manage its factions, amid a deepening political funds scandal.
Kishida’s remarks came a day after the LDP president expressed his readiness to dissolve the fourth-largest faction that he led until last month, in order to restore public trust.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters at his office in Tokyo on Jan. 19, 2024. (Kyodo)
The LDP has come under intense scrutiny, with its biggest faction, previously led by late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, suspected of failing to report hundreds of millions of yen in revenue from fundraising parties over years.
Kishida told reporters that the public is “casting skeptical eyes” on the factions that are regarded as vehicles for LDP lawmakers to gain funds and promotion.
LDP factions provide their members with election funding and recommend them for ministerial posts, with critics accusing them of using fundraising events to generate secret funds.
Kishida, who left his faction amid the scandal, launched an internal reform panel to establish rules to enhance the transparency of funds raised by the LDP groups.
Prosecutors are expected to indict and fine some individuals such as accountants of three of the factions, including Kishida’s group, on suspicion of failing to report political funds, sources close to the matter said.
But the prosecutors are unlikely to build criminal cases against executives of the factions, the sources said.
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