- 14 Mar 2002
- 21,050
- 18,903
The LDP keeps digging its own political grave:
The LDP parliamentary group in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly revealed yesterday that over half of its members failed to disclose millions of yen generated from political fund-raising events. An internal investigation uncovered that 26 current and former members did not report approximately 29 million yen ($186,800) from ticket sales revenues exceeding their assigned quotas for fund-raising parties held in 2019 and 2022. These funds were neither paid to the LDP group nor included in political funding reports.
Among the 26 implicated members, 16 are sitting Tokyo assembly lawmakers, while the LDP holds 30 seats. The widespread nature of the misconduct suggests it has become a deeply entrenched practice within the group. The probe also revealed that the LDP parliamentary group left roughly 10 million yen from the 2022 fund-raising party revenue unreported and used it to cover operating expenses and personnel costs.
The scandal hit the Tokyo chapter of the LDP as it was preparing for the metropolitan assembly election in June. The chapter has decided not to endorse six of the 26 members who had served as the group's secretaries-general.
A nationwide telephone survey last week revealed that the Cabinet approval rating fell to 33 per cent, down from 36 per cent in the previous survey conducted last December.
The LDP parliamentary group in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly revealed yesterday that over half of its members failed to disclose millions of yen generated from political fund-raising events. An internal investigation uncovered that 26 current and former members did not report approximately 29 million yen ($186,800) from ticket sales revenues exceeding their assigned quotas for fund-raising parties held in 2019 and 2022. These funds were neither paid to the LDP group nor included in political funding reports.
Among the 26 implicated members, 16 are sitting Tokyo assembly lawmakers, while the LDP holds 30 seats. The widespread nature of the misconduct suggests it has become a deeply entrenched practice within the group. The probe also revealed that the LDP parliamentary group left roughly 10 million yen from the 2022 fund-raising party revenue unreported and used it to cover operating expenses and personnel costs.
The scandal hit the Tokyo chapter of the LDP as it was preparing for the metropolitan assembly election in June. The chapter has decided not to endorse six of the 26 members who had served as the group's secretaries-general.
A nationwide telephone survey last week revealed that the Cabinet approval rating fell to 33 per cent, down from 36 per cent in the previous survey conducted last December.
