Parties clash over release of LDP’s internal funds scandal probe

Clashes between ruling and opposition parties over the release of an internal Liberal Democratic Party investigation into the recent political funds scandal continued Monday, causing an hourlong delay to the budget committee session.

Opposition parties had demanded that the LDP publish a list of all party members responsible for the underreporting of political funds in the last five years, and voiced their dissatisfaction with the party’s efforts to uncover details of wrongdoing.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is also the LDP president, said Monday that the party will ask a third-party body to compile a summary of the ongoing hearings of lawmakers suspected of underreporting political funds. The party will send out an internal questionnaire to all party lawmakers regarding their conduct by the end of the week, Kishida added.