January 6, 2024

Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, the President of the Liberal Democratic Party, on January 4 announced his decision to set up a new organization, “political reform headquarters”, within his party. He made this decision following the political fundraising scandal involving all the major LDP factions.

Kishida intends to assign former PM Suga Yoshihide and LDP Vice President Aso Taro, who heads one of the scandal-hit LDP factions, to the new organization as top advisors.

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on January 5, when asked by reporters about Kishida’s announcement, said, “PM Kishida has a far more important thing to do before establishing a new LDP body, which is uncovering the entire truth behind the scandal. ‘Political reform’ without doing this is meaningless.”

Shii stressed, “Who got how much in slush funds? For what purpose was the money used? Nothing has come to light. Getting to the bottom of the scandal should be a top priority.”

Furthermore, Shii referred to a bill to prohibit all forms of political donations from corporations and organizations including the purchase of fundraiser tickets, which the JCP submitted in the last extra Diet session. He pointed out that the implementation of this measure is the only way to prevent a recurrence of political donations scandals. He said that the need now is for the LDP-led government to fulfil its responsibility to uncover the whole truth behind the scandal.

Past related article:
> JCP submits bill to restrict fundraiser ticket sales [December 6, 2023]