Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight Masakuni Murakami, former leader of the LDP members in the House of Councilors, resigned from the chamber Thursday after being criticized over his connections to an alleged bribery scandal involving mutual-aid organization KSD.
Murakami, a former Labor Minister, tendered his resignation to House of Councilors President Yutaka Inoue after meeting separately with senior members of the Eto-Kamei faction and Mikio Aoki, Upper House secretary general of the LDP. The resignation was expected to be approved at an Upper House plenary session Monday.
Murakami decided to step down because he was "causing problems for the public and the national assembly" due to his reported links with KSD, he said. He also resigned from the LDP the same day.