Tokyo: Liberal Democratic Party executives including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed Monday to establish a new intraparty organization to discuss political reform measures in response to a huge money scandal rocking the Japanese ruling party.

Kishida, the LDP’s president, and six executives including Vice President Taro Aso met for about an hour at the party’s headquarters.

The new body, to be set up as early as the beginning of next year, will mull political and party reform measures while paying attention to further developments with prosecutors investigating the scandal.

“We will take resolute action, such as creating an organization to regain trust in the party, as soon as possible after the turn of the year,” Kishida told reporters at the prime minister’s office following the meeting. “We want to hold concrete and diverse discussions.”

In the scandal, some revenues from fundraising parties were not reported properly at many LDP factions, including the largest, once led by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The new organization is expected to discuss specific ideas such as revisions to the political funds control law, a shift to cashless payments for fundraising party tickets and LDP headquarters involvement in parties held by factions.

Some LDP members have called for updating the party’s 1989 political reform outline, which sought the dissolution of factions.

Kishida has instructed the party’s Youth Division to gather opinions from young LDP members across the country. He is believed to be planning to reflect such voices in the upcoming discussions.

Monday’s meeting was also attended by Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi, General Council chair Hiroshi Moriyama, Policy Research Council chair Kisaburo Tokai, Election Strategy Committee chair Yuko Obuchi and Masakazu Sekiguchi, head of the LDP lawmakers in the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of parliament.

“We cannot say by when we will reach a conclusion, until we get a grasp of (prosecutors’) investigations to some extent, but we want to arrive at a conclusion early if possible,” Motegi told reporters.

JIJI Press