TOKYO: A Japanese parliament political ethics panel Wednesday decided to hold hearings over a money scandal involving factions of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party over two days from Thursday.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the LDP’s president, and former internal affairs minister Ryota Takeda, who is from the faction led by former party Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai, will appear before the Deliberative Council on Political Ethics of the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the Diet.

Four members of the faction once led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, including former LDP General Council Chairman Ryu Shionoya, will do so on Friday.

Both hearings will be fully open to the press.

JIJI Press