LDP’s Provision of ¥20 mil. to Local Branches Draws Complaints; Candidates not Endorsed by Party in Lower House Election Claim ‘Unwanted Favor’

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:01 JST, October 26, 2024

One candidate after another has voiced complaints against the Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership over the party’s provision of ¥20 million each to local branches headed by scandal-tainted candidates running in the House of Representatives election without the party’s endorsement, with some calling it “an unwanted favor.”

Their complaints stem from the fact that an equal amount of money was provided to the branches headed by all LDP candidates, regardless of whether they are officially endorsed by the party or not. The provision of the funds has become the target of public criticism, thus intensifying headwinds against the party in the campaign’s closing phase.

“I have questions about why [the party leadership] decided to provide the money during the election campaign. It’s just an unwanted favor,” Koichi Hagiuda, former chairman of the LDP’s Policy Research Council, posted on his office’s X account on Thursday night, openly showing his dissatisfaction over the party leadership’s latest act.

Hagiuda is running as an independent candidate without the party’s endorsement due to his involvement in a scandal in which several LDP factions failed to record funds in political funds reports.

He also wrote that he returned the money to the party headquarters on Friday, and emphasized that he would “fight fair and square as an independent candidate.”

The LDP’s provision of ¥20 million to each local branch was acknowledged on Wednesday. The money was transferred as an “activity expense” not only to those endorsed by the party but also those not endorsed.

The opposition parties have been pursuing the matter since Wednesday, claiming it was a “behind-the-scenes official endorsement fund.”

The LDP claims that the money was, in principle, paid to the branches but that it “cannot be used for campaigning” if a branch’s candidate is not officially endorsed by the party.

However, if a branch is represented by such a candidate, it will be difficult to verify how the money was used afterward.

“The activities by the branches are necessary. There is no problem for the party to provide funds to them,” said Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, who is close to Prime Minister and LDP President Shigeru Ishiba at a press conference on Friday. In saying so, he defended the party leadership’s move. However, feelings of resentment have been spreading within the party, with some calling it “election obstruction.”

“It is a nuisance. It may be out of [the party leadership’s] parental love, but for whatever reason, it is ill-timed,” Kiyoshi Odawara, a former senior vice foreign minister running as a candidate not officially endorsed by the LDP, told reporters in Tokyo on Thursday, showing his intention to return the money.