Tokyo: The Liberal Democratic Party faction headed by Toshimitsu Motegi, the ruling party’s secretary-general, is considering closing its office in the Nagatacho political district in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward, in the wake of a political funds scandal involving LDP factions, informed sources said Sunday.

The move is intended to give the impression that the faction is trying to transform itself into a policy group, as sought by an interim report by the LDP’s political reform task force in a bid to shake off the factions’ current images associated with money and personnel appointments.

The Motegi faction will hold a meeting as early as Tuesday to discuss its future policy.

After the interim report was adopted on Thursday, Motegi held a meeting with about 10 mid-ranking and younger members of his faction on Friday and agreed to take responses in line with the report.

Specifically, the Motegi faction is considering moving the base of its activities to the LDP headquarters, according to the sources. Meanwhile, it plans not to dissolve its political organization that accepts donations for the faction.

Recently, LDP election strategy chief Yuko Obuchi withdrew from the Motegi faction. Masakazu Sekiguchi, who leads LDP lawmakers in the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of Japan’s parliament, and Upper House lawmaker Kazuhiko Aoki also announced their departures from the faction.

Over the scandal, four factions and one political group in the LDP have decided to disband.

For factions that plan to stay on, highlighting their efforts to turn into policy groups as originally intended is apparently aimed at preventing member defections.

JIJI Press