Takaichi Admits Giving Gift Catalogs to LDP Lawmakers

Tokyo, Feb. 24 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi admitted Tuesday that she distributed congratulatory gift catalogs to all lawmakers of her ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected in the Feb. 8 House of Representatives election. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Takaichi said that no state grants for the LDP were used for the gifts to the LDP lawmakers in the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, the country’s parliament. The comments came after the Shukan Bunshun magazine reported the matter in its online edition Tuesday. Opposition parties are set to grill the prime minister on the matter in the Diet amid lingering public distrust over the issue of money and politics, including a high-profile slush fund scandal involving the LDP. The prime minister said on X that the LDP’s branch in the No. 2 constituency in Nara Prefecture, which is headed by Takaichi, donated the gifts to all LDP Lower House members to express its gratitude and congratulations for their victories in the election, in which the LDP won a landslide victory, so that they can use them for future activities. Commenting on the matter, Junya Ogawa, leader of the opposition Centrist Reform Alliance, told reporters that “it’s hard to believe.” Accountability, including financial resources, will be severely questioned, he added. In March last year, then Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba came under fire for distributing gift vouchers worth 100,000 yen to LDP lawmakers elected for the first time in the 2024 Lower House election, drawing criticism from opposition parties and others. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]