Japan's LDP Worried about Fresh Attention to Money Issue

Tokyo, Sept. 27 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Liberal Democratic Party is worried that fresh attention may be directed to the issue of money and politics in the extraordinary parliamentary session beginning on Oct. 5.

Behind the worry are Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's controversial appointments of two lawmakers involved in her LDP's slush fund scandal as ministers.

The two members of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, the country Japan's parliament, are the first to become cabinet members among the LDP members punished over the slush fund scandal.

Opposition parties are expected to grill Takaichi over the appointments, with little explanation given yet. Some LDP members are concerned that the slush fund scandal will return as a main issue in the Diet, possibly affecting the results of the unified local elections next spring.

In the Sept. 17 cabinet reshuffle, Kazuo Yana and Yoshihiro Seki became agriculture and education ministers, respectively. They both belonged to the now-defunct LDP faction that had been led by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]