Politics LDP Tokyo: 26 assembly members implicated in slush fund scandal

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 unreported amounts per individual ranged from 100,000 yen to 3.32 million yen. It was also found that Satoshi Udagawa, speaker of the Tokyo metropolitan assembly, failed to report a total of 1.38 million yen. He announced his intention to resign, saying that the issue "has resulted in fostering distrust in politics." The 16 sitting members involved took part in a news conference on Jan. 23. One of them, Masahiko Miyake, told reporters, "Most of the money was used for transportation expenses, but no receipts were kept." Other members admitted to "following precedent" but provided no clear explanation about when the practice began or who gave the instructions.

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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 disapproval rating climbed sharply to 51 percent from 43 percent. A majority of 51 per cent of respondents expressed support for a non-LDP administration, surpassing the 34 per cent who favoured the continuation of an LDP-led government. When Shigeru Ishiba assumed office as prime minister in October last year, his Cabinet's approval rating stood at 46 per cent. However, it dropped to 34 per cent by November and has remained low since then. Support has been particularly weak among younger voters, with less than 20 per cent of those aged 18 to 29 and in their 30s approving the Cabinet, according to the latest survey. Under the previous administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in August last year, a study by The Asahi Shimbun revealed a nearly even split in public opinion regarding the next administration, with 42 per cent favouring the LDP and 43 per cent supporting another party.

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