More Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers implicated in the party’s slush funds scandal are likely to attend an expected Upper House ethics hearing amid fears that not doing so would put them at a disadvantage in next summer’s election.
Only three out of 32 LDP members attended the Upper House ethics hearing in March. Of the remainder, about 20 lawmakers who belonged to a faction previously led by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have reportedly said they are willing to attend a hearing once a date has been set.
The lawmakers conveyed this stand — an about-face from their earlier decision not to testify — to Masaji Matsuyama, LDP Secretary-General of the Upper House caucus, on Tuesday.
“I have yet to confirm all members’ commitment, but I think mostly everyone will attend,” a party executive said.
In last month’s Lower House election, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who also serves as party president, excluded scandal-tainted LDP candidates who refused to attend a Lower House ethics hearing from being listed in the party’s proportional representation system.
This meant that LDP candidates who failed to win single-seat constituencies would not have been able to gain a seat in the Lower House through proportional representation — which serves as a form of insurance for the candidates.
As a result, many scandal-tainted LDP members who ran — and lost — in single-seat districts, such as former Olympics minister Tamayo Marukawa, ended up exiting the Lower House.
Opposition parties have long demanded that LDP lawmakers implicated in the scandal attend a hearing, which is now likely to be held during an extraordinary session of parliament set to convene on Thursday.
Information from Jiji added