Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida appears before the Lower House Deliberative Council on Political Ethics on Feb. 29. (Pool)

Pressed by the opposition camp, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Feb. 29 promised to never hold another fund-raising party for his political group during his tenure as Japan’s leader.

Kishida made the vow at the Lower House Deliberative Council on Political Ethics, which was held to find answers regarding the large amounts of unreported money accumulated by factions of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party through fund-raising parties.

Kishida was the first sitting prime minister to appear before the panel.

The LDP and opposition parties were deadlocked over whether the session would be open to the media. The unusual move by Kishida to appear paved the way for the start of the two-day panel session.

Yoshihiko Noda, a former prime minister representing the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, questioned Kishida.

Noda noted that in 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Kishida held fund-raising parties for the political organization he heads. Some of those parties raised at least 10 million yen ($67,000).

Guidelines for Cabinet ministers say they should refrain from holding such large parties.

Noda asked Kishida whether his parties violated those guidelines and if he should refrain from holding such events while prime minister to avoid raising suspicions among the public.

Kishida only said, “I will make the appropriate judgment concerning future events.”

Noda pressed him twice more, and Kishida finally said he would no longer hold such parties as long as he was prime minister. Noda accepted that answer and went on to another topic.

Noda also reminded Kishida of what he had said at the Feb. 5 Lower House Budget Committee session.

At that time, Kishida said he would make every effort to confirm whether his LDP faction held fund-raising parties earlier than 2018, before he became prime minister, that were not properly listed on political fund reports.

Kishida responded: “I did confirm what happened before 2018 and found out there are no longer any records from that period. Therefore, I have no idea what the situation was like back then more than six years ago.”

Kishida also said his administration would work to pass legislation in the current Diet session that would make lawmakers legally responsible for any violations of the Political Fund Control Law committed by their aides or staff members.

Under current provisions, only staff members who are in charge of accounting are considered legally liable for failing to accurately include income and expenditure amounts in the political fund reports of a political organization.

Kishida said after the LDP comes up with a proposal for strengthening penalties against lawmakers, discussions would be held with other parties so passage of such legislation is possible.

At the start of the session, Kishida was given time to explain his position regarding the money scandal.

While again apologizing to the public for bringing about distrust of politics, Kishida pledged to work to restore that trust by being at the forefront for reform.

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