Key lawmakers are subject to prosecution investigation… Concerns about budget ‘poor’ deliberation
Local public broadcasters NHK and others reported on the 27th that the Japanese government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party have begun coordination to convene the regular National Assembly next year in late January.
The background to delaying the opening date of the regular National Assembly session to the end of next month is not unrelated to suspicions of slush funds from factions within the Liberal Democratic Party.
Jiji News Agency reported, citing multiple government and ruling party officials, that the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors’ Office’s special department is currently investigating the case of violation of the political fund law by the Liberal Democratic Party faction, and decided that early to mid-January should be avoided in order to determine the direction of the investigation. did. Jiji News and Asahi Shimbun predicted that next year’s regular session of the National Assembly will be convened on January 26. However, the news agency added that there is also a plan to hold it on the 22nd or 29th.
The Asahi Shimbun said, “Because the National Assembly is being convened due to a strange situation in which lawmakers who were at the core of the government are being subjected to random investigations one after another, there is a possibility that the budget deliberation may not begin as scheduled,” and “Within the ruling party, a convocation is being held on January 22nd.” “It was reported that while there were some demanding opinions, it was decided to adjust the date to the 26th based on the judgment that as late as possible would be better in assessing the direction of the investigation.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (President of the Liberal Democratic Party) expressed his intention to review measures to prevent recurrence in the party’s new organization ahead of next year’s regular session of the National Assembly in response to the issues surrounding the political funding party of the Liberal Democratic Party faction.
Prime Minister Kishida said in a lecture on the 25th, “It is very regrettable that it is causing a situation where the public is suspicious,” and “As a responsible ruling party, we must push forward so that we can discuss it in order to restore political trust in the regular session of the National Assembly next year.”
Accordingly, the Liberal Democratic Party plans to launch a new organization at the beginning of the year to review measures to prevent recurrence in order to restore trust in response to the controversy surrounding the faction’s political fund party (fundraising event). A review of measures to prevent recurrence in the new organization will be conducted while also monitoring the progress of the prosecution’s investigation.
NHK reported that due to the slush fund issue of the Liberal Democratic Party faction, political reform will become the biggest topic in the regular session of the National Assembly, and discussions such as revision of the Political Fund Act to increase transparency of political funds are expected to take place.
On the 26th, Prime Minister Kishida called Yoshitami Kameoka (Liberal Democratic Party), Chairman of the Special Committee on Establishment of Political Ethics and Public Official Election Act of the House of Representatives (House of Representatives), to the Prime Minister’s Office and cooperated, saying that the revision of the Political Fund Regulation Act is likely to become the focus of the regular National Assembly session. requested
Accordingly, Azumi Jun, chairman of the National Assembly Committee of the Constitutional Democratic Party, Japan’s main opposition party, criticized the Liberal Democratic Party’s new organization, saying, “I don’t know what kind of organization it will be or what it wants to do, so it won’t end in a fireworks display.”
The opposition party decided to continue its investigation by demanding that Prime Minister Kishida and the Liberal Democratic Party fulfill their responsibility to explain the slush fund issue, saying that they must clearly present the problem independently of the prosecution’s investigation.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.