Lower House Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda’s decision to resign comes far too late as it has long been evident that he is not fit for the job as the head of the highest organ of state power.

But Hosoda should not be allowed to simply leave office without responding to allegations concerning his long association with the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, formerly known as the Unification Church, and inappropriate sexual behavior toward female reporters.

Hosoda has announced his intention to resign due to ill health. The 79-year-old politician was hospitalized twice over the summer because of health problems.

In one instance, he was rushed to the hospital after he complained of symptoms of heatstroke. He is apparently taking the expected convening of an extraordinary Diet session on Oct. 20 as an opportunity to step down.

For about seven years until he was appointed as the Lower House speaker in 2021, Hosoda headed Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyukai (Seiwaken), a faction of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The group, which is believed to have developed particularly close ties with the Unification Church, was subsequently led by Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister, who was gunned down in July last year.

With Abe's passing, Hosoda bears an especially heavy responsibility to elucidate the connection between the LDP and the controversial religious group.

Despite this, he attempted to get through the extraordinary Diet session last fall by offering only a brief statement, printed on a single sheet of paper, acknowledging his ties to the church.

Before the regular Diet session was convened in January this year, he responded to questions about the issue from representatives of both the ruling and opposition parties in closed-door informal talks.

Such restricted talks behind closed doors cannot clear up doubts about his relationship or the LDP’s ties with the sect.

When the Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine reported testimonies last May from multiple female reporters who allegedly suffered sexual harassment from Hosoda, he protested, claiming the accusations were "groundless."

However, he refused to answer questions at the Committee on Rules and Administration or news conferences.

He has consistently tried to avoid speaking about these allegations against him in public.

Regarding his relationship with the Unification Church, Hosoda admitted to attending meetings of affiliated organizations eight times.

A video also emerged, revealing his attendance at a 2019 meeting, along with Hak Ja Han Moon, the church founder’s widow and its current leader. The video showed him saying, “I will immediately report to Prime Minister Abe about how this meeting was successful and what it was about.”

During his closed-door talks with ruling and opposition party representatives in January, Hosoda stated that the sect’s much-criticized “reikan shoho,” or spiritual sales, were a thing of the past.

He also claimed that he had not known the group to be an organization riddled with such serious problems until Abe’s assassination cast light on them.

But it is difficult to take his words at face value. Hosoda should also disclose all that he knows about the links between Abe and the group. The former prime minister once said that he had had "a deep relationship (with the church) from a long time ago.”

As for refusing to answer questions about this issue, Hosoda reportedly said discussing matters from his LDP days was "inappropriate because of his position as the House speaker." As he is now stepping down from the position, however, this constraint no longer applies.

Particularly if he continues serving as a member of the Diet, he should not keep dodging his responsibility to offer convincing explanations about the matter any longer.

The LDP announced the results of a "review" of connections between its members and the sect last fall.

But Hosoda, who had been temporarily suspended from party membership upon assuming the speakership, was exempted from the inquiry.

If he returns to the LDP, the party cannot escape the responsibility to have him provide a full explanation about his links with the religious organization.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 3