Lower House Speaker Urged To Explain Ties To Former Unification Church
Opposition lawmakers in Japan are calling for Lower House Speaker Hosoda Hiroyuki to thoroughly explain whether he has ties to the controversial former Unification Church.
They say it is his duty to do so before an extraordinary session of the Diet opens next week.
There have been reports that Hosoda attended a meeting hosted by a group related to the former Unification Church.
But speakers of both chambers were exempted from a survey the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party conducted this month on ties between the party's Diet members and the religious group. The results showed that nearly half of the members have or had links.
Even some key members of the party say Hosoda should conduct an investigation and issue the results promptly.
The largest opposition Constitutional Democratic Party's leader, Izumi Kenta, said on Tuesday that most members of the public probably believe Hosoda should have been included in the survey.
Opposition parties plan to demand at a Diet committee meeting on Wednesday that Hosoda offer an explanation.