Tokyo: Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party will report the results of its interview and questionnaire surveys on a high-profile money scandal to the opposition camp as early as Tuesday, it was learned Friday.

The LDP finished both surveys by Friday. The interview survey mainly covered more than 80 lawmakers deeply involved in the scandal, while the questionnaire survey covered all of the party’s 374 lawmakers.

“The party will work to grasp the whole picture (of the scandal) and fulfill its accountability,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, also president of the LDP, said at a parliamentary committee meeting on Friday.

However, the opposition camp is likely to step up criticism of the surveys, which had limited involvement from third parties such as outside experts.

Over the scandal, Tokyo Summary Court has imposed penalties on a secretary of Nikai, it was learned on Friday.

Shuichi Umezawa, 55, was ordered on Jan. 26 to pay a fine of 1 million yen for violating the political funds control law. His civil rights were also suspended for three years.

According to the indictment and other sources, Umezawa failed to include a total of 35 million yen in a political group’s financial reports for 2018 to 2022.

JIJI Press