Komeito Distances Itself from Scandal-Marred LDP

   Tokyo, April 26 (Jiji Press)--With an eye on the next House of Representatives election, Komeito is distancing itself from its ruling coalition partner, the Liberal Democratic Party, out of fear that it may catch stray bullets from the LDP's money scandal.
   Increasingly frustrated with the LDP, which is knee-deep in the political funds scandal, Komeito has put off reaching an agreement with the LDP on revising the political funds control law, and refused to go all out in backing the LDP's only candidate in Sunday's by-elections for the Lower House.
   Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi, at a meeting of the party's executives on Thursday, did not mention the proposed law revision, which will be the biggest point of parliamentary debate in the second half of the ongoing Diet session, or the three upcoming by-elections.
   Yamaguchi would have touched on these issues under normal circumstances, but he "chose to avoid it in light of the LDP's heavy responsibility (for the money scandal)," a Komeito official said.
   Many Komeito officials have turned the cold shoulder to the LDP over the topic of politics and money.

(2024/04/26-10:30)

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