The biggest faction in Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party decided at its last general meeting on Thursday to set up a liquidation management committee to disband the group formerly headed by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
With a slush funds scandal rocking the LDP, led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the Abe faction, which made a decision to dissolve in January, will bring its history to an end following its foundation in 1979 by the late former Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda.
The ruling party, meanwhile, will begin an investigation into its members related to the scandal on Friday, in an attempt to clarify how political funds were collected and used among them, according to sources close to the matter.
At Thursday's gathering of the group, Ryu Shionoya, who is the de facto head, said, "We have to close the long-standing faction to our great dismay," while some members urged him to take responsibility for the scandal.
On Wednesday, the Abe faction said in a statement that it provided around 677 million yen ($4.57 million) in total to its members from unreported income over five years through 2022, apologizing for "causing public mistrust in politics."
The faction has played a crucial role in decision-making processes within the LDP, including the selection of the party's leader.
Since 2000, the faction has produced four premiers -- Yoshiro Mori, Junichiro Koizumi, Abe and Yasuo Fukuda. During Koizumi's tenure of over five years through September 2006, the faction became the largest force in the LDP.
The LDP previously disbanded its factions in the 1990s, only for its lawmakers to create new groups by the end of the decade. The factions have served mainly to help lawmakers secure campaigning funds and ministerial posts.
The ruling party has come under intense scrutiny amid allegations that three of its factions, including the one Kishida led until December, failed to report revenue from fundraising parties and accumulated slush funds.
As the latest political funds scandal has deepened mistrust in LDP factions, the three groups have decided to dissolve, prompting the party to map out internal reform proposals aimed at strengthening its governance.
The moves have been praised by some LDP members as bold reforms, but critics say they are simply a political performance by the ruling party, calling for Kishida to implement effective measures to bolster the surveillance of finances of lawmakers.
So far, prosecutors have indicted or issued summary indictments to 10 individuals belonging to the three groups within the LDP, but executives of the Abe faction will not face criminal charges due to a lack of evidence.
During a parliamentary session on Thursday, Kishida said even if the factions are disbanded, accountability for those involved in the scandal remains, adding criticism of trying to divert attention from slush funds to groups within the LDP "is not accurate."
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