Japan’s Lower House ethics council to convene on Thursday and Friday | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

The Lower House Deliberative Council on Political Ethics will convene on Thursday and Friday to discuss the fundraising scandal involving factions of the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Council officials met and decided to hold the meetings after Prime Minister Kishida Fumio revealed his intention to attend to fulfill his accountability as party president.

Proceedings will be open to the media.

Kishida will attend Thursday’s session along with Takeda Ryota, a former internal affairs minister who served as secretary general for the LDP Nikai faction.

Four other lawmakers who served as secretaries general for the Abe faction will attend Friday’s session.

They are former economy and industry minister Nishimura Yasutoshi, former Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu, former education minister Shionoya Ryu and former Diet affairs chief Takagi Tsuyoshi.

Each person will be allotted 80 minutes, beginning with a 15-minute statement, followed by 65 minutes of questioning by various parties.

This is the first time a sitting prime minister will attend a session of the ethics council, and the first time since 2006 that a lawmaker will appear for clarification.

The ruling and opposition blocs had been trying to hold council sessions on Wednesday and Thursday, but the LDP was divided over whether the proceedings should be open to the public.

The council respects the preferences of individual lawmakers regarding whether to make sessions public. The decision to hold a public hearing was prompted by Kishida’s request, with all five individuals in agreement.