In a rare appearance in front of a parliamentary ethics committee Thursday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida apologized for the slush funds scandal that has engulfed his Liberal Democratic Party and expressed his resolve to implement political reforms.
“I feel deeply sorry when I think about whether we’ll actually be able to pass on this political system to future generations,” Kishida said in his opening remarks, adding that the party will consider how to formally reprimand lawmakers involved in the scandal as well as make the case for legal revisions to restore public trust in politics.
The LDP leader later detailed the recent endeavors of a party panel targeting political reform. He hinted at the necessity of both amending internal party norms on the handling of political funds and paving the way for legal revisions to introduce penalties for politicians involved in wrongdoing, even if indirectly.