Money Scandal Cuts LDP Membership by over 30,000

Jiji Press

16:40 JST, March 13, 2024

TOKYO (Jiji Press)—Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party said Tuesday its membership stood at 1,091,075 as of the end of 2023, down 33,688 from a year earlier.

The drop can be traced to distrust among the public as well as LDP members in the party that has grown since the revelation last December of slush funds created by intraparty factions, Yasushi Kaneko, party organization and campaign chief, said at a meeting.

To meet the 1.2-million membership target, “it is dispensable for us to regain trust with not only worlds but actions and to set forth concrete policy goals,” Hiroshi Kajiyama, acting LDP secretary-general, told a press conference.