The Tamesis
December 11, 2024
Tokyo – The Liberal Democratic Party on Monday sought support from the main opposition Cadet Party of Japan for an early convening of the House of Representatives Ethics Committee, saying some lawmakers involved in the LDP political funding scandal wanted an explanation for the matter.
The Liberal Democratic Party leadership aims to have all 15 lawmakers who underreported their funds, including Koichi Hagiuda, the former chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party Policy Research Council who was formerly affiliated with Abe, attend the political ethics review hearing. However, the party struggled to convince MPs to participate.
Be cautious about numbers
“I asked the China Democratic Party to convene this meeting because some members of our party want to participate in the hearing on the issue of underreporting of funds,” Hideki Murai, chief secretary of the ruling group committee, told reporters after talking to Democratic Party members. His opponent, Manabu Terata of the Democratic Party of Japan.
In May this year, the opposition party asked the committee to screen 44 Liberal Democratic Party members involved in the scandal. The committee excluded former Abe faction and core members of the Niikai faction who had attended the committee hearings. This request was unanimously approved. The number dropped from 44 to 15 after many MPs lost their seats or retired in the last House of Representatives elections.
As for when the council will be held, Murai said, “as soon as possible.” However, he was cautious about the number of lawmakers attending the meeting and said arrangements were still in progress.
Some members of the former Abe faction, including former Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, expressed their willingness to attend, but not all relevant members of the faction agreed to do so.
continued opposition
Takao Fukuda, acting secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party and a former member of the Abe faction, has been playing a central role in confirming the attendance of various members. However, opposition from concerned MPs persisted, with one mid-level MP saying: “I won the election, so that's enough.”
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama met with Hagiuda on Thursday and asked him to persuade lawmakers to attend committee hearings.
In response, Hagiuda asked Moriyama to resolve the issue by the end of the year as a prerequisite for their attendance. He then discussed with lawmakers how to deal with the issue. However, Hagiuda was unable to reach an agreement with them, with one person saying, “I doubt the issue will really be resolved this year.”
Hagiuda is said to have distrust of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who is also the president of the Liberal Democratic Party. In the last general election, Ishiba decided not to recognize Hagiuda as an official candidate, believing that he had not given due explanation to the ethics committee. Hagiuda believed the treatment was unfair because he was instructed by the party leadership at the time not to attend the panel hearings.
The Liberal Democratic Party leadership plans to convene the ethics committees of the House and Senate of the Diet this year and resolve the issue so as not to affect next summer's upper house election.
However, members of Abe's former camp expressed concerns, with one member saying: “It is difficult for these 15 lawmakers to explain more than the core members.” [who have already attended the panel’s hearings]I'm sure this issue will be criticized if it doesn't get further clarification.
