August 16, 2024

House of Councilors lawmaker Hirose Megumi, former Liberal Democratic Party member, resigned her Diet seat on August 15 in connection with the allegation that she defrauded the national government of the salary of a government-paid secretary.

Commenting at a street rally in Morioka City on the anniversary of the end of WWII on Hirose’s resignation, the Japanese Communist Party in Iwate Prefecture, her constituency, said, “She is not qualified to be a Dietmember. Her resignation is only natural.”

A by-election following her resignation is slated for October 27. The JCP Iwate Prefectural Committee called for a joint struggle between concerned citizens and constitutional opposition parties to regain a seat from the LDP in the by-election. It said, “Let us create a major trend to change the national government starting from Iwate!”

Hirose left the LDP on July 30 after Tokyo public prosecutors raided her home and office in Tokyo on suspicion of fraud.