Three more senior members of the Liberal Democratic Party’s largest faction will attend a special committee to investigate a political funds scandal that has rocked the ruling party, lawmakers said Wednesday.
Former trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno and former Diet affairs chief Tsuyoshi Takagi, all of whom have served as secretary general of the faction formerly led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have informed the LDP of their intention to appear at the panel.
The LDP has been forced to respond to opposition calls for more members to attend the House of Representatives panel as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government looks to swiftly pass a budget for the next fiscal year starting April.
On Tuesday, the ruling party had informed opposition parties of the attendance of two members — Ryu Shionoya, the de facto leader of the Abe faction, and Ryota Takeda, a senior member of the group led by former LDP Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai.
Former trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Feb. 21, 2024. (Kyodo)
But four opposition parties, including the largest, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, agreed not to move forward with deliberations on the draft budget unless many more of the some 50 LDP lawmakers from the two factions allegedly involved in the scandal, including more senior members, attended the hearing.
The parties also plan to urge the LDP to agree to hold similar hearings in the House of Councillors, or upper chamber.
The deliberative council on political ethics is responsible for examining the political and moral conduct of lawmakers who face allegations of wrongdoing.
The council can admonish them, such as by recommending they step down from their roles in the Diet or refrain from attending sessions for a period, though no such measures have ever been taken.
The LDP has come under intense scrutiny amid allegations that three factions, headed by Abe, Nikai and Kishida, respectively, neglected to report portions of their incomes from fundraising parties and created slush funds to distribute to their members.
Opposition parties have called for all 51 lower house members of the Abe and Nikai factions alleged to be involved in the scandal, especially five key figures of the Abe faction, including Nishimura, Matsuno and Takagi, to testify at the committee.
However, attendance at the committee is not compulsory and those giving testimony cannot be held accountable for perjury.
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