LDP survey doesn’t quell demand from opposition for ethics hearing

An internal survey by the Liberal Democratic Party of members caught up in a slush funds scandal has failed to quell opposition demands that senior party leaders face scrutiny by a parliamentary ethics committee over what they knew about nearly ¥580 million in kickbacks — and when they knew it.

“It’s a fake survey. There’s so much that wasn’t asked about how the money was used,” Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Kenta Izumi told reporters Friday.

The scandal, and the demand to convene a meeting of the ethics committee by the four main opposition parties, have Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a political bind.