While the echoes of the assassination of Shinzo Abe, the ‘longest-serving prime minister in Japan’, continued, a striking development took place. 146 lawmakers in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) reportedly have ties to the “Unification Church”. In the research, it was declared which LDP factions the deputies belonged to. Accordingly, 39 MPs are in the faction of the murdered Shinzo Abe.
THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE MEPs WITH THE CHURCH IS INVESTIGATION
The Kyodo agency’s investigation investigated relations between lawmakers within the ruling LDP and the religious cult “Unification Church” (FFWPU).
THE RELATIONSHIP OF AT LEAST 146 DEPUTY RELEASED
In the research, it was revealed that at least 146 deputies from the LDP were associated with the church structure or with groups close to this religious cult.
This number corresponds to 38 percent of the 381 LDP deputies in the upper and lower houses of the national parliament.
39 OF THESE ARE IN THE SHINZO ABE FRACTION
In the research, it was declared which LDP factions the deputies belonged to. Accordingly, 39 MPs are in the faction of the murdered Shinzo Abe.
21 of them are LDP Deputy Chairman Aso Taro, 21 of them are LDP General Secretary Motegi Toshimitsu, 20 of them are in the party’s heavyweight Nikai Toshihiro faction. 19 deputies are in the Prime Minister Kishida Fumio group.
100 MILLION YEN DONATIONS
The controversial religious group has been on the agenda of the Japanese media after Abe, who was titled “the longest-serving prime minister” with his duty in 2012-20, was assassinated at his party’s outdoor event in Nara city on July 8.
The murder suspect Yamagami Tetsuya, who stated that he harbored a grudge against Abe for publishing a supportive message to a church-affiliated group, said in his interrogation that his mother’s financial donations to religious organization had bankrupted his family.
Yamagami’s uncle also told reporters that the suspect’s mother had donated nearly 100 million yen to the church, and that despite the tragic event, the mother was saddened that the church she followed was in trouble.
Earlier research by the Kyodo agency revealed that at least 106 of the country’s 712 lawmakers were somehow linked to the organization, of which about 80 percent were members of the ruling LDP.
Source: AA