Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday that he has decided to step down as head of his faction in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party as the political funds scandal took a further toll on his already faltering government.
The LDP has recently faced criticism over allegations that five factions, including Kishida’s, underreported their income from parties raising political donations, with the additional revenue possibly being paid back as bribes to some lawmakers.
While Kishida’s predecessors typically stepped down as leaders of their factions during their terms as prime minister to avoid the appearance of patronage-oriented politics, he has retained this position since taking office in October 2021.
Kishida, who leads the fourth-largest faction within the LDP, told reporters: “I will take the lead in the party’s political responsibility and efforts to restore public trust.”
He added that he would resign from his faction during his term as prime minister, with sources close to him saying the group’s leadership position would be vacant for the time being.
LDP factions have typically provided their members with election funds and recommended them for ministerial positions. Around 80 percent of the more than 370 LDP MPs belonged to one of the inner party groups.
But critics have long pointed out that such caucus functions provide many LDP lawmakers with an opportunity to generate secret funds, making it difficult to track exactly how they receive money from their groups and how they use it.
In the wake of the latest allegations being investigated by the Tokyo District Prosecutor’s Office’s Special Investigation Team, Kishida on Wednesday ordered LDP executives not to hold fundraising parties.
But more and more people called for him to leave his parliamentary group in order to regain the public’s trust in the ruling party.
With the Cabinet’s approval ratings falling to their lowest level since Kishida became prime minister, he was also forced this week to deny ties to the controversial Unification Church after a Japanese daily reported he met with senior figures from the organization in 2019.
The Asahi Shimbun reported earlier Thursday that former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich acknowledged the presence of people associated with the Unification Church in his meeting with Kishida.
Later in the day, Kishida again dismissed speculation about his ties to the religious group, which has been questioned over its aggressive fundraising tactics and close ties to ruling party lawmakers.
He said that even if such people had attended the meeting, his view remained that he did not know who Gingrich’s companions were. Kishida added that he tried to contact Gingrich to confirm the details.
As for the political money scandal, LDP factions have traditionally set party ticket quotas for their lawmakers, typically around 20,000 yen ($136), investigative sources said, adding that if they exceed their targets, the additional income is paid back as bribes in some internal party groups.
The largest faction, formerly led by assassinated Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and now chaired by House of Representatives Rep. Ryu Shionoya, is suspected of pooling over 100 million yen in secret funds.
According to the sources, prosecutors are considering questioning MPs from the Seiwaken faction or the Seiwa political study group who are accused of accepting large sums of bribes after the end of the current parliamentary session next Wednesday.
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Japanese Prime Minister Kishida is urging his party factions to refrain from fundraising events in light of the scandal