LDP Gives Funds to Branches of Candidates without Endorsement
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Tokyo, Oct. 23 (Jiji Press)--Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party has given 20 million yen each to branches led by candidates denied party endorsement for Sunday's general election due to their involvement in a slush funds scandal, party officials said Wednesday.
LDP Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama said in a statement that the funds were provided to the branches as expenses for bolstering the party's strength and were not given to the candidates.
Opposition parties are intensifying their criticism of the LDP, saying that providing such funds is equivalent to endorsement.
The LDP did not endorse 12 members as its candidates for the House of Representatives election who had received severe punishments for their involvement in the scandal. Nine of them are running as independents.
The payments of the funds were reported in the Wednesday edition of the Shimbun Akahata, the Japanese Communist Party's newspaper.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]