Tokyo, 30 Jan (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida apologized for the Liberal Democratic Party's "black gold" scandal in his policy speech at the plenary session of the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors on 30 January, saying that he was willing to carry out political reforms to restore the trust of the people, and stressed that he would devote himself to the post-disaster reconstruction of the Noto Peninsula.
Regarding the Liberal Democratic Party's "black gold" scandal, Fumio Kishida said that in the future, he plans to amend the "Political Funds Regulation Act" and promote reforms in areas such as transparency and thorough compliance of political funds to restore public trust in politics.
Regarding the post-disaster reconstruction of the Noto Peninsula, Fumio Kishida stressed that he will work with the local government to rebuild the lives of residents in the affected areas. Regarding the doubling of the budget reserve for fiscal 2024 to 1 trillion yen, he said that disaster relief efforts should not be hesitant due to budget constraints, and that assistance should be continued as much as possible.
In addition, Kishida pointed out that "economic recovery" is the biggest mission, and he will strive to achieve a national income increase that exceeds the price increase. ** Childcare policies will also be developed on an unprecedented scale of spending to address population decline.
The Liberal Democratic Party's "black gold" scandal has been rapidly fermenting since it was taken out in November last year. According to reports, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) faction has set sales targets for its members of Parliament, asking them to ** political fundraising party tickets. If the sales target is exceeded, the extra funds will have the opportunity to be returned to the councillors as their additional income. This part will not be registered on the report of income and expenditure of factions and the income and expenditure report of parliamentarians' political funds, and will thus become unregulated secret funds.