Former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso pledged Saturday to maintain his faction within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party as a "policy group," with the latest political funds scandal increasing public distrust in politics.
Aso has become the first leader of the LDP's factions to declare the continuation of such a group, as four of them, including one that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida headed until late December, decided to disband earlier this month.
In internal reform proposals approved on Thursday, the LDP promised to move away from factions as vehicles for securing funds and allocating important government and party posts for lawmakers, but the party allowed them to continue as "policy groups."
Opposition lawmakers have expressed doubt about the effectiveness of the proposals, claiming that it is difficult to distinguish between factions and policy groups and that the proposals lack substantial solutions to prevent the abuse of political funds.
The ruling party, led by Kishida, has come under intense scrutiny amid allegations that some of its factions failed to report revenue from fundraising events and accumulated hundreds of millions of yen in slush funds.
Among the six factions within the LDP, the group headed by Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi has yet to decide whether to dissolve, while some members, such as the party's election campaign chief Yuko Obuchi, have left recently.
The faction was previously led by former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, the father of Yuko Obuchi.
In the Aso faction, former Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters on Friday that he will leave it, urging all such groups to disband in order to "rebuild" the LDP. The party has been in power for most of the period since 1955.
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