Japan's Main Ruling Ldp Punishes Member For Calling Ex - Pm Abe Shinzo 'traitor'
Japan's main ruling Liberal Democratic Party has decided to suspend a member from party offices for one year after calling former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo "a traitor."
Former Administrative Reform Minister Murakami Seiichiro made the remark last month when he said he would not attend Abe's state funeral on September 27.
LDP lawmakers, including members of the party faction formerly led by Abe, asked the party leadership to punish Murakami.
The LDP convened the Party Ethics Committee, comprising Diet lawmakers and private sector intellectuals, on Wednesday to discuss how to handle the matter.
The committee members were notified that Murakami had submitted a statement saying his remark did not represent what he truly intended to say and was inappropriate. He added that he would like to retract the remark and apologize to Abe's relatives and related people.
Some committee members insisted that Murakami should be removed from the party as his remark is unforgivable.
But the committee unanimously agreed on the one-year suspension after taking Murakami's statement into consideration. The committee said his remark degraded the dignity of LDP members.
A reporter asked the head of the committee, Eto Seiichi, about the risk of the punishment eventually discouraging LDP lawmakers from freely expressing their opinions. Eto dismissed the possibility, saying Murakami's remark was not about policy.
Eto said almost all committee members agreed that it is very inadequate and inexcusable to describe Abe as a traitor as he had committed his life to his work.
After the punishment was meted out, Murakami withdrew his remark and apologized. He told reporters that he takes the committee decision seriously.