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Japan’s ruling LDP punishes 39 members over political funds scandal, urges 2 to quit party

  • PM Fumio Kishida, who leads the LDP, hopes the steps will allow the party to move on from the scandal before his visit to the US next week
  • But opposition lawmakers say the party’s probe failed to fully bring to light the facts surrounding the slush funds and are set to demand further scrutiny

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Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party, delivers a speech during the 91st party convention in Tokyo. Kishida hopes the steps will allow the party to move on from the scandal before his visit to the US next week. Photo: dpa
Kyodo
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday punished 39 members over a political funds scandal, including urging two heavyweights to leave the party, aiming to put a line under a controversy that has dogged it since late last year.
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The decision by the LDP’s disciplinary committee comes after some of its factions, including one previously led by the late prime minister Shinzo Abe, were found to have neglected to fully report revenue from fundraising parties for years, with hundreds of millions of yen passed back to members who had sold tickets to the events.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who leads the LDP, hopes the steps will allow the party to move on from the scandal before his visit to the United States next week for talks with President Joe Biden, with official campaigning for three by-elections in parliament kicking off in the following week.

But opposition lawmakers say the party’s probe has failed to fully bring to light the facts surrounding the slush funds and are set to demand further scrutiny, while the punishment may also draw a backlash from LDP members who feel it is unfair, political pundits said.

Former education minister Ryu Shionoya, the de facto leader of the Abe faction, and Hiroshige Seko, former LDP secretary general in the House of Councillors who is also a high-ranking member of the Abe faction, were advised to leave the party, the second-severest penalty among the party’s eight levels of punitive steps following expulsion.

In response to the decision by the ethics panel, Seko told reporters he offered to leave the party.

Toshihiro Nikai, a ruling Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight, bows at the end of a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Tokyo. Photo: Kyodo
Toshihiro Nikai, a ruling Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight, bows at the end of a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Tokyo. Photo: Kyodo

Separately, Shionoya criticised a decision not to punish Kishida, saying it would only be “fair” to give the prime minister the same treatment.

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