Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday approved internal reform proposals that stopped short of demanding the dissolution of its factions, following a political funds scandal involving some of the intraparty groups.
An interim report compiled by the party's reform panel, presided over by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, pledged to move away from factions as vehicles for securing funds and allocating important government and party posts for lawmakers while allowing them to continue as "policy groups."
Later in the day, Kishida denied having any intention of resigning over the scandal, saying, "I will fulfill my responsibility by leading discussions" on how to materialize the interim report aimed at restoring public trust in the LDP.
Opposition lawmakers and critics have expressed doubt about the effectiveness of the proposals, arguing it is hard to distinguish between factions and policy groups and that the proposals lack substantial solutions to prevent the abuse of political funds.
The LDP has come under intense scrutiny over the fundraising scandal, with the largest faction, formerly led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, suspected of failing to report revenue from fundraising parties over many years and accumulating hundreds of millions of yen in slush funds.
Akira Nagatsuma, a former health minister now serving as the policy chief of the leading opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, said, "First of all, the LDP should explain how to use the slush funds."
"The biggest point is what the slush funds were used for. Nothing has been made clear," Nagatsuma told reporters separately.
Public outrage over the scandal has pushed the approval ratings of Kishida's Cabinet down sharply, prompting the LDP president to set up the panel earlier this month to establish rules for enhancing the transparency of political funds.
The factions in the LDP have mainly played a role in helping lawmakers obtain campaign funds and ministerial posts, although proponents say they also function to formulate policy and train junior politicians.
The report calls for a ban on factions holding political fundraising parties, which have come to be associated with slush funds amid the latest scandal.
It also urges the intraparty groups to stop providing their members with funds in summer and winter and to stop recommending them for government and party posts.
However, while the report says that policy groups "should completely depart from money and personnel issues," the proposals leave room for lawmakers to hold fundraising events individually and influential politicians to seek posts for party members affiliated with them behind the scenes.
The report did not mention whether to introduce guilt by association between lawmakers and accountants, with Kishida saying, "We will discuss it with opposition parties after improving" the governance of the LDP.
As for revising the political funds control law, which is often criticized for loopholes allowing politicians to maintain slush funds, Kishida said, "We will swiftly carry out necessary law developments," without elaborating on the details.
The law requires a political group's accountant to submit a report on its income and expenditure. Failure to do so can result in imprisonment for up to five years or a fine of up to 1 million yen.
Last Friday, prosecutors indicted several accountants and lawmakers from some of the LDP factions, including one formerly led by Kishida, on suspicion of violating the political funds control law. However, executives of the groups did not face criminal charges due to a lack of evidence.
The LDP leadership, meanwhile, plans to require senior members of the Abe faction, who came under criminal investigation, to take political responsibility, with calls growing for them to leave the party, sources close to the matter said.
In the LDP, some lawmakers have voiced their intention not to depend on a faction anymore, with the sources saying its election campaign chief Yuko Obuchi, a daughter of late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, has decided to leave the group she belongs to.
The interim report proposed introducing a system to enable the party to request a policy group to disband if it is found to be violating laws.
The panel also recommended that the party toughen its penalties on lawmakers who are arrested or indicted and called for punishing them if their accountants are arrested or indicted.
Last week, Kishida proposed disbanding the faction he led until December, and its members agreed Tuesday to do so. So far, three LDP factions, including the Abe group, have decided to follow suit.
Former Prime Minister Taro Aso appears likely to defy pressure to dissolve his faction, the second largest in the LDP, while LDP Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi has yet to say whether the third-largest one, which he heads, will disband.
Related coverage:
Japan PM Kishida vows to reshape LDP by moving away from faction system
LDP panel to seek faction disbandment in event of funds law violation
Ex-LDP member Tanigawa resigns as lawmaker amid funds scandal
