Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida responds to a question at the Upper House Budget Committee on March 18. (Takeshi Iwashita)

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he will not dissolve the Lower House and call a snap election before he puts a money scandal to rest involving lawmakers in his ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

At the March 18 Upper House Budget Committee session, Tetsuro Fukuyama of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan told Kishida, “You will be betraying the public if you sweep the issue under the carpet by dissolving the Lower House before punishment.”

Kishida barked back, “Because I am not thinking about dissolution at the moment, I have no intention of dissolving the Lower House before disciplinary measures are taken.”

The prime minister added that he was determined to see the Diet pass legislation to revise the Political Fund Control Law to prevent a recurrence of unreported funds gained through LDP faction fund-raising parties that were returned to faction members.

On March 18 prominent lawmaker Hakubun Shimomura, a former education minister, became the ninth LDP member to appear before a deliberative council on political ethics.

He depressingly echoed the words of others by asserting he had no knowledge of how the decades-old practice took root in the LDP.

Although Shimomura once held the powerful position of secretary-general of the Abe faction, he said decisions about returning accumulated funds to faction members were made by the faction head and an underling, namely the faction official handling administrative matters.

While Shimomura received a total of 4.76 million yen ($32,000) from the Abe faction between 2018 and 2022, he said he was stunned to learn in April 2022 where the money came from, that it represented a return of the excess amount of tickets his office sold for fund-raising parties.

A meeting was held at that time involving former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and four high-ranking faction members, including Shimomura.

The LDP factions have since said they have disbanded.

Abe is said to have called for an end to the practice, but after his murder in July 2022, no decision was made by other faction officials about the practice.

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