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▼ Biggest Faction In Japan's Ruling Party Decides To Disband: Lawmaker
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The largest faction in Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party has decided to disband, a lawmaker said Friday, as a political funds scandal involving the group formerly led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has deepened public distrust in politics.
The decision came shortly after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to dissolve the party's fourth-biggest faction that he led until December and former LDP Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai expressed an intention to disband his fifth-largest group.
Earlier in the day, Kishida said the dissolution of the faction, which he headed, is aimed at restoring public trust amid the political funds scandal.
In the party's largest faction, several junior members had told Ryu Shionoya, who is the de facto head, that the group with nearly 100 members should be disbanded as soon as possible.
The faction once led by Abe has played a crucial role in decision-making processes within the party, including the selection of the party's leader, who typically becomes prime minister.
In its history, the LDP, which has dominated Japanese politics for most of the period since 1955, has previously dissolved its factions, but its lawmakers then created groups again. The factions have served mainly to help lawmakers obtain campaigning funds and ministerial posts.
Kishida also said Friday that the LDP needs to come up with new rules on how to properly manage its policy study groups.
The LDP has come under intense scrutiny over the fundraising scandal, with the Abe faction suspected of failing to report hundreds of millions of yen in revenue from fundraising parties over many years. Public outrage has pushed approval ratings for Kishida's Cabinet down sharply.
Kishida, who quit his faction in response to the scandal, told reporters Friday that the public views the factions with "skeptical eyes."
He launched an internal reform panel earlier this month to establish rules to enhance the transparency of funds raised by the LDP groups, promising to compile an interim report next week.
On Friday, prosecutors indicted a number of accountants and lawmakers from three factions, including Kishida's group, on suspicion of failing to report political funds.
But they said they did not indict executives of the three factions due to a lack of evidence, despite mounting criticism over the scandal.
The decision came shortly after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to dissolve the party's fourth-biggest faction that he led until December and former LDP Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai expressed an intention to disband his fifth-largest group.
Earlier in the day, Kishida said the dissolution of the faction, which he headed, is aimed at restoring public trust amid the political funds scandal.
In the party's largest faction, several junior members had told Ryu Shionoya, who is the de facto head, that the group with nearly 100 members should be disbanded as soon as possible.
The faction once led by Abe has played a crucial role in decision-making processes within the party, including the selection of the party's leader, who typically becomes prime minister.
In its history, the LDP, which has dominated Japanese politics for most of the period since 1955, has previously dissolved its factions, but its lawmakers then created groups again. The factions have served mainly to help lawmakers obtain campaigning funds and ministerial posts.
Kishida also said Friday that the LDP needs to come up with new rules on how to properly manage its policy study groups.
The LDP has come under intense scrutiny over the fundraising scandal, with the Abe faction suspected of failing to report hundreds of millions of yen in revenue from fundraising parties over many years. Public outrage has pushed approval ratings for Kishida's Cabinet down sharply.
Kishida, who quit his faction in response to the scandal, told reporters Friday that the public views the factions with "skeptical eyes."
He launched an internal reform panel earlier this month to establish rules to enhance the transparency of funds raised by the LDP groups, promising to compile an interim report next week.
On Friday, prosecutors indicted a number of accountants and lawmakers from three factions, including Kishida's group, on suspicion of failing to report political funds.
But they said they did not indict executives of the three factions due to a lack of evidence, despite mounting criticism over the scandal.
- January 19, 2024
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