Tokyo: The ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s faction previously led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made an official decision Tuesday to disband itself over illegal political funds.

Takumi Nemoto, the faction’s secretary-general, told other members at a meeting that he gave the nod when Kishida earlier expressed his determination to break up the group.

The prime minister quit as faction chief after it came to light that the faction, called Kochikai, did not report some 30 million yen in income from fundraising parties in fiscal 2018-2020 against the political funds control law. Kochikai’s former accountant faced a summary indictment.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, Kochikai chair, said in a message to the meeting that the breakup is intended to regain public trust in politics.

JIJI Press