Two weeks have passed since Prime Minister Fumio Kishida effectively announced his resignation by saying he will not seek re-election as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

More than 10 politicians have shown interest in running for the LDP’s leadership election, which will choose the next prime minister by virtue of the LDP’s solid majority in the Lower House.

However, only three LDP legislators have officially declared their candidacy so far: Takayuki Kobayashi, former minister for economic security; Shigeru Ishiba, former LDP secretary-general; and Taro Kono, the digital transformation minister.

The situation does not lend itself well to initiating a full-fledged debate on key policy issues. The election campaign period for the party leadership poll lasts only 15 days, which is hardly sufficient to thoroughly evaluate the character and capabilities of candidates to see whether they are fit to hold the nation’s highest office.

This should not merely be a “short-term battle” to change the party’s face at the top.

While the nation is facing a raft of policy challenges in areas such as the economy, social security, diplomacy and national security, Kishida abandoned his hopes of re-election due mainly to a loss of public trust caused by a political slush funds scandal. That means this issue should be an essential topic in the LDP leadership race. Simply changing the prime minister does not settle the matter.

However, the contest’s landscape does not convey a powerful and convincing message of commitment to advancing a fundamental reform of political funding by clarifying the facts about the scandal and establishing accountability.

Kobayashi has proposed early disclosure of “seisaku katsudo-hi” policy activity expenses, where political parties provide funds directly to individual politicians. Disclosure of how the funds is not currently a requirement. The LDP has promised to consider disclosing such expenses in “10 years or later.”

However, Kobayashi has indicated he would significantly move forward with the disclosure date while also rethinking the disciplinary actions taken against the members of the faction once led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who have been stripped of their executive positions over the scandal.

Ishiba mentioned the possibility that he would not endorse LDP lawmakers involved in the scandal as the party’s official candidates for the next Lower House election, and Kono suggested seeking the return of the amounts of political funds that were not reported in political funding statements.

However, these proposals have met with strong resistance within the party, and it is uncertain whether these plans can be implemented.

Twenty percent of the party’s Diet members are implicated in the scandal. Each candidate, in reality, does not want to alienate these members as they need their votes. However, such inward-looking thinking will not help restore public trust in the party.

On Aug. 29, the Special Investigation Department of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office filed a summary indictment against former Lower House member Manabu Horii on charges of violating the Political Funds Control Law by failing to report about 17 million yen received from the Abe faction.

Horii was also summarily indicted for violating the Public Offices Election Law by distributing condolence money to local voters, with part of the money suspected to have come from the funds linked to the scandal.

These facts have left no doubt that the LDP’s own investigation into the scandal, which concluded that the funds were not used illegally, cannot be trusted.

If the LDP truly wants to resolve the distrust left by the scandal, it should not proceed with the leadership election while keeping the lid on suspicions. Instead, as a first step forward, it should redo the investigation and ensure that the 73 people who refused to answer questions over the scandal at the Diet’s Deliberative Council on Political Ethics fulfill their minimal duty to explain.

Regarding political funding reform, the candidates should present detailed ideas on how to realize “politics that does not require big spending,” including regulations on political donations by businesses and other organizations.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 31