The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and leading opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) agreed Wednesday to postpone unsworn testimony over a slush funds scandal involving the now-defunct LDP faction once led by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The Budget Committee of the House of Representatives had been set to question the Abe faction's former chief accountant on Thursday.
But the opposition camp harshly reacted to the LDP's stance shown Wednesday that the timing and location of the hearing should not be disclosed, as requested by the former chief accountant. The ruling party's negative reactions to questions presented in advance by the opposition camp also fueled the opposition's anger.
"As the chairman (of the Lower House committee), I cannot overlook (the LDP attitude)," CDP lawmaker Jun Azumi told reporters.
Later in the day, the LDP and CDP parliamentary affairs chiefs agreed to put off the unsworn testimony in a meeting held at the parliament building.
At the meeting, the CDP's Hirofumi Ryu demanded that the former accountant be questioned before the Lower House votes on the government's fiscal 2025 budget bill.
If the LDP keeps calling for a closed-door hearing, "we will have to consider, as an option, summoning him to give sworn testimony," Ryu said.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.