Japan Ruling Bloc Alarmed by Losses in Tokyo Assembly Election

   Tokyo, June 23 (Jiji Press)--A sense of crisis spread inside Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling coalition ahead of a national election this summer following its lackluster showing in Sunday's election for the Tokyo metropolitan assembly.
   Officials at the Liberal Democratic Party, headed by Ishiba, blamed the party's record-low result on the fallout of a slush fund scandal involving LDP members in the metropolitan assembly.
   "There was a problem with political funds," Shinji Inoue, leader of the LDP's Tokyo chapter, told reporters in the small hours of Monday.
   "The situation is severe going into the House of Councillors election," Inoue said, referring to the election for the upper chamber of parliament expected to take place next month.
   An LDP executive said, "The issue of politics and money may have a nationwide impact."

(2025/06/23-15:07)