TOKYO: The opposition camp demanded on Tuesday that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe be summoned to give unsworn testimony in the Diet, Japan’s parliament, after a secretary to him was questioned by public prosecutors over a dinner party linked to the government’s cherry blossom-viewing event.

“We have to hear his direct explanations first,” Jun Azumi, Diet affairs chief of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, told reporters. “We request that he appear as an unsworn witness as soon as tomorrow’s Budget Committee meeting.”

Abe’s office is suspected of covering some of the costs of the dinner party, organized by a support group for him, according to informed sources.

Azumi argued that those involved in the case may be charged with corruption. “We may have to summon (Abe) for sworn testimony,” he said.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of Komeito, the coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, suggested that the former prime minister should fulfill his accountability regarding the matter.

Abe told reporters on the same day that his office is fully cooperating with the investigation, noting that he answered parliamentary questions on the matter when he was in office.

JIJI Press