Japan's Ruling Party Fretting Over Member's Political Funds Scandal
Concern is rising within Japan's main ruling Liberal Democratic Party about dubious political funds reports connected to one of the party's members.
Opposition lawmakers say internal affairs minister Terada Minoru is to blame for inaccurate political funds reports submitted in 2019 and 2020 by one of his local support groups. A deceased individual was listed in the reports as the person in charge of accounting.
The opposition camp grilled Terada about other troublesome financial reports at a Diet meeting on Tuesday. A political funds report compiled in 2011 by a different group indicates that Terada gave the group a loan of 6 million yen, which is worth about 75,000 dollars at the rate at that time. However, the loan is not mentioned in reports submitted during the following years.
Terada said at the meeting that he will fully address the matter and have the reports corrected, if necessary.
The opposition camp is urging Terada to resign as a Cabinet minister. They say that he is not the right person for the position, as the internal affairs minister oversees the application of the political funds control law.
Some members of the Liberal Democratic Party are concerned that the scandal could have a prolonged adverse impact on the government, which is already dealing with sluggish approval ratings.