The Liberal Democratic Party on the 9th reprimanded former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and three other lawmakers who walked out of a Lower House plenary vote on the consumption tax cut and support payment bills, the first such sanction against a former prime minister.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who is also party president, is said to have wanted the party's internal discipline taken seriously. The speed of the ruling, which effectively forces the four into silence, is likely to thicken the air of "Takaichi's one-strong" dominance inside the administration.
"We debated it thoroughly within the party. Walking out as a final exit does not quite make sense," LDP Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki told a news conference on the evening of the 9th, defending the sanction.
Deadline for explanation
Noon on the 9th was the deadline for the four to submit written explanations demanded by the party leadership. The leadership sent documents dated the 6th asking for a "specific and detailed" account of the reasons, saying the walkout "cannot be overlooked from the standpoint of party unity."
Ishiba has spoken about the pressure the sanction carries. "I am scared of the punishment, but this work..." he said, according to the Asahi Shimbun.