The acting secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party on Sunday rejected calls to its members testify under oath about ties to KSD, a scandal-ridden mutual-aid foundation already responsible for the downfall of three LDP legislators.
Koji Omi told an NHK TV program that the LDP members should be questioned at the closed-door Deliberative Council on Political Ethics instead of going through sworn testimony in the Diet, which carries the risk of perjury charges.
On the same show, the secretary general of New Komeito, an LDP ally, voiced discontent with Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's apology over the KSD scandal in his policy speech Wednesday at the beginning of the current parliamentary session. New Komeito supports the proposal for sworn testimony.