TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister ISHIBA Shigeru suggested Tuesday that his ruling Liberal Democratic Party may not officially endorse party members involved in its “slush fund” scandal in next summer’s election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet.

“I’m not currently thinking of taking a different approach” from the one in the October election for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, Ishiba said at a plenary meeting of the Upper House on the day.

The LDP did not endorse some scandal-tainted members in the Lower House race in the face of public criticism over the money scandal. In deciding whom to endorse in the election, the party took into account factors such as attendance at a parliamentary ethics panel hearing.

Pointing out that the LDP provided 20 million yen even to the non-endorsed candidates’ camps in the Lower House election, Kiyomi Tsujimoto, executive deputy president of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, asked the prime minister whether the party will also provide funds to non-endorsed candidates in the upcoming Upper House election.

Ishiba responded that his party will consider a “response that can gain public understanding,” based on the results of the Lower House election.

Elsewhere in the day’s Upper House meeting, Ishiba clearly stated that a nuclear weapons sharing scheme with the United States is impossible for Japan in light of the Asian country’s three nonnuclear principles. Before becoming prime minister, he had indicated a positive stance toward such nuclear sharing.

Regarding PFAS, suspected carcinogenic chemicals, the prime minister said that the government will compile by next spring measures to strengthen controls on them, such as requiring water utilities to conduct inspections and disclose results. “It is important to reduce health risks from drinking water,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ishiba expressed concern about misinformation and disinformation on the internet, saying, “It is a serious problem that (false information) can spread widely in a short time and have a serious impact on people’s daily lives as well as social and economic activities.”

Ishiba stressed that the distribution of accurate information is vital in elections, and that the government will “actively implement comprehensive measures while giving due consideration to the freedom of expression.”

JIJI Press