LDP Koizumi Protests Report that Aide Kicked Out Party Members

Tokyo, Oct. 1 (Jiji Press)–Japanese agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi, a candidate in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election, on Wednesday demanded that the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun correct a story reporting that his aide had kicked 826 rank-and-file members out of the party. “The report is factually incorrect and could have an unfair influence on the leadership election,” Koizumi said in a statement. According to the Shukan Bunshun story published online Tuesday, the LDP’s Kanagawa prefectural chapter conducted procedures for the removal of 826 members in June at the instruction of a prefectural assembly member close to Koizumi. Many of the affected members supported former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi in last year’s LDP leadership race. Takaichi is also a candidate in Saturday’s party presidential election. “A large number of party members backing Takaichi were kicked out of the party without their knowledge,” the report said. Koizumi claimed in his statement that he first learned about the matter through the report, and that he had absolutely no involvement whatsoever. He pointed out that the removal occurred before the party decided to hold the upcoming election. “The story makes it seem as if I or others made some moves to gain an advantage on the premise that a presidential election would be held,” he said. “I must say that it’s an inappropriate report that forcibly connects the dots.” Hiroyuki Umezawa, secretary-general of the LDP’s Kanagawa chapter, told a press conference at the prefectural government Wednesday that the removal was the result of a mistake in the handling of a party member list, following a change in the party representative in the Kanagawa No. 9 constituency of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament. He apologized for the confusion, saying that the Shukan Bunshun report was “a misunderstanding and a manipulation of information.” The LDP’s presidential election administration commission corrected its tally of party members on Saturday, saying that there was a “discrepancy in Kanagawa Prefecture regarding the continuation of party membership for some people.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]