Japan PM Kishida plans to attend Diet panel on funds scandal

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday that he plans to attend a parliamentary hearing on a political funds scandal that has rocked his Liberal Democratic Party, in an apparent attempt to break an impasse in negotiations on launching proceedings.

The House of Representatives political ethics committee was due to convene for two days from Wednesday, but its opening has been delayed as the ruling and opposition parties remain at odds over whether its hearings should be fully open to the media.

At his office, Kishida told reporters that his appearance at the committee would be fully open to the media, saying he would like to fulfill his accountability with regard to the scandal as president of the LDP in order to restore public trust in politics.

He added it is "extremely regrettable" that the ongoing "tug of war" between the ruling and opposition blocs has prevented the session from taking place, indicating he hopes that his fellow LDP lawmakers will also agree to the presence of the media.

The LDP has come under intense scrutiny amid allegations that some factions, such as the one Kishida headed until December, neglected to report portions of their incomes from fundraising parties and created slush funds.

Kishida's pledge comes as his government aims to secure swift passage of a budget for the next fiscal year starting in April. Diet deliberations on the budget are at a stalemate due to the impasse over the committee hearings.

While hearings of the ethics panel are, in principle, closed, they can be made public when attendees agree. Of nine similar cases in the past, only one, in 1996, was completely closed, while five were open to the media.

The LDP has said five members, including lawmakers