Tokyo, Dec 8 (UNI)- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he had decided to step down as leader of the Kochikai faction of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) over a scandal involving years of concealing income and expenditure from ticket sales for fundraiser events.
“I want to take the initiative and work hard to restore trust in the party’s politics. So this is why I have made the decision to leave the faction during my term as Prime Minister and LDP President,” Kishida was quoted as saying by Japanese broadcaster NHK on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan has called for the resignation of Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno and Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura over the money scandal, according to a broadcast by the Japanese parliament.
“Detailed answers can damage the investigation. It is necessary to refrain from making any statements. The chief cabinet secretary performs different duties. As for the questions you have asked, it is necessary to refrain from answering, but otherwise I want him to continue to fulfill his duties,” Kishida said during a lower house session.
Prior to the move, five LDP factions were criticized for allegedly underreporting income in political fund reports, and Kishida urged party members not to hold fundraising events for some time.
The special division of the Tokyo prosecutor’s office is currently investigating the concealment of funds received by five factions of the ruling party from fundraising events. Tickets for these rallies are often purchased by Japanese businesses. By law, if the amount raised in a single evening exceeds 200,000 yen ($1,300), the names of the donors and the amounts must be recorded in the account book.
However, it turned out that the largest faction of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had amounts of several hundred million yen unspecified for five years. Further investigation revealed that when a politician collected more than the prescribed amount, they received a “kickback” for the excess. In Abe’s faction, at least several dozen people received money this way, estimated at tens of millions of yen.
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