Japan's ruling LDP explores future without powerful factions
TOKYO -- Japan's snowballing slush fund scandal is forcing the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to consider disbanding factions that have long held sway over party affairs, but its attempt at reform could crumble without an alternative mechanism.
"In order to dispel concerns and restore trust, we must come up with rules governing policy groups," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the LDP's president, said Friday.