The Hyogo prefectural arm of opposition party Nippon Ishin no Kai said Wednesday that it will expel prefectural assembly member Minoru Kishiguchi for inappropriately providing information about a probe into the Hyogo governor to Takashi Tachibana, head of a political group.
Hyogo Ishin no Kai also said that it will punish prefectural assembly member Makoto Masuyama with a recommendation to leave the party for also giving Tachibana information linked to the probe by an assembly panel into alleged harassment by Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito.
"We apologize for causing inconvenience to and distrust among prefectural residents," Hyogo Ishin leader Michihito Kaneko said during a news conference at the prefectural government office in Kobe.
Kishiguchi was involved in supplying Tachibana with an unverified document about former prefectural assembly member Hideaki Takeuchi, who was a member of the assembly committee investigating the harassment allegations. Takeuchi died last month.
Hyogo Ishin decided to hit Kishiguchi with its heaviest punishment as he had been serving as the committee's deputy chief and head of the party's assembly group at the time.
Masuyama gave Tachibana a private audio recording of the investigative panel as well as a memo containing unverified information about the former prefectural government official who made the accusations against Saito and died last July.
The party said that Masuyama was punished because he violated a confidentiality rule imposed on him as a member of the committee.
Both Kishiguchi and Masuyama stepped down from the panel on Thursday. They told reporters after the punishments were announced that they will stay on in the prefectural assembly as independents for the time being.
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