A survey by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of its members’ ties with the Unification Church revealed a surprisingly wide scope of connections the group built up within the governing party. About half of the LDP Diet members had dealings of some sort with the church, formally called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

But the survey only scratched the surface of the problem and failed to answer core questions. They include how the church or its affiliated groups were able to build such a network with so many party legislators and whether government policies were influenced as a result. Another key question concerns the relationship slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had with the church as he is said to have controlled how the votes of church followers were distributed among the party’s candidates during election campaigns.

The party’s half-hearted “review” should not mark the end of its effort to delve into the matter.

The LDP released its survey findings on Sept. 8. Of the 379 LDP lawmakers, 179, or 47 percent, were found to have some connection to the church. Some of them received support for their election campaigns or donations from the group, while others attended meetings related to the church or paid membership fees for events sponsored by organizations affiliated with the Unification Church.

The review was basically based on reports from the members themselves and not on an active party investigation into the matter. The names of 121 lawmakers were released because they were found to have had a certain level of closeness to the church, such as having received support during elections. The names of politicians were cited for each type of dealings but no details were revealed, such as the dates of meetings they attended and their function, the number of times they paid membership fees or received donations, and the sums involved.

The information provided is so scant that it is impossible to gauge whether and to what extent the lawmakers’ dealings with the church were inappropriate. The scraps of information also do not allow validation by an independent organization.

There are certain types of connection that were not covered by the survey. Lawmakers were not required to report on whether any church followers ever served as their secretaries or staff members. This is relevant because the church could have gathered crucial information about the government’s policies or influenced them through such connections.

More importantly, the party did not try to grasp the roles played by Abe, who is believed to have been a key figure that connected the party with the church.

It is said that the Abe clan’s relationship with the church dates back three generations to his grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, who served as prime minister between 1957 and 1960.

Of the legislators whose names were released, members of the Abe faction accounted for the largest chunk, 37, including Koichi Hagiuda, the party policy chief, former Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, who is Abe’s brother, and former education minister Hakubun Shimomura.

To be sure, Abe’s death at the hands of a gunman has made it difficult to clarify his past relations with the church. But the LDP’s unwillingness to make any serious attempt to answer related questions, such as interviewing Abe’s aides, raises suspicions the party is seeking to sweep inconvenient facts under the carpet.

Conspicuously missing from the list of lawmakers covered by the survey is Lower House Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda, the former head of the Abe faction who has been seen in a video speaking at an event sponsored by organizations affiliated with the Unification Church. Hosoda was excluded from the study because he currently does not belong to the LDP caucus of the lower chamber after assuming the leadership post in the house. This also raises doubt about the LDP leadership’s seriousness in uncovering the facts.

In a news conference to announce the results of the survey, LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi said, “I take the findings seriously and candidly feel bad about them.” He stressed that the party would have nothing to do with the church in the future, either at national or local levels.

Despite the discovery of connections between so many LDP lawmakers and the church, however, Motegi stuck to the party position that it was not linked to the group as an organization.

Motegi and other LDP leaders need to realize the party is unable to cut its relationship with the church cleanly and completely unless it squarely confronts the structural factors behind their past ties.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 10