Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, December 11 (Xinhua) -- A number of Japanese **** reported on the 10th, citing sources, that the scandal of secret political funds of the largest faction of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the "** faction", continues to ferment, and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to reshuffle the cabinet and adjust the senior personnel of the Liberal Democratic Party in the near future to remove the "** faction" involved
*The faction, officially known as the "Seiwa Policy Research Association", was previously led by former Prime Minister Shinzo. Japan** recently revealed that this faction issued sales targets to its parliamentarians, requiring them to enter the political fundraising rally with 20,000 yen (about 989 yuan) each. If the sales target is exceeded, the extra funds will have the opportunity to be returned to the councillors as their additional income.
Kyodo News reported on the 10th, citing sources, that in the past five years, the ** faction has not recorded the above income and expenditure in accordance with relevant regulations, and the cumulative total amount of the secret fund may reach hundreds of millions of yen. Several members of this faction have been accused of receiving kickbacks, including Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshi Matsuno.
1. Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasunori Nishimura and Takeshi Takagi, Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's Diet Policy Committee.
Kyodo News reported, citing sources, that Fumio Kishida has decided to remove Hirokazu Matsuno and is considering replacing Yasunori Nishimura and Takeshi Takagi. Another person in the LDP advocated that Koichi Hagiuda, chairman of the LDP's political affairs research committee, and Hiroshi Seko, secretary general of the LDP's House of Councillors, be abolished, so that the core "five-member group" of the ** faction would all be separated from the cabinet and the top level of the LDP.
According to another source, Fumio Kishida is considering removing all the members of the ** faction when the cabinet is reshuffled, so that no one from this faction will serve as ministers, vice ministers or political officials in the new cabinet. It is expected that the relevant personnel changes will be initiated as early as the end of the extraordinary session on the 13th.
In response to the ** faction's secret fund scandal, the Special Investigation Department of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors' Office has launched an investigation on suspicion of violating the "Political Funds Regulation Act". (Zhang Jing).
*:Xinhua.