In a reversal of its earlier position, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is expected to propose a rule that would force Diet members to disclose all their stock transactions.
After approving the plan at an LDP ethics panel, the matter will be taken up at a working group of the ruling alliance next week. A plan the LDP panel drafted Thursday to partially disclose Diet members' stock transactions was greeted with criticism at the party's Executive Council on Friday.
According to Koichi Kato, the party's secretary general, the consensus of the meeting was for all trading to be reported to the Diet to eliminate suspicions that lawmakers are profiting from illicit stock transactions. "I asked the panel to reconsider its plan toward that end," Kato told a news conference after the meeting.
Although members of the panel are reluctant to agree to the idea of reporting all Diet politicians' transactions, they are obliged to follow the decision of the party's executive panel. However, the new rule at present carries no sanctions, because the LDP says no punishment is necessary for Diet members who fail to report or falsely report their transactions.
The Social Democratic Party disagrees and wants transgressors to be punished. The issue will be among the points discussed among the working group of the three parties in the ruling alliance, which also includes New Party Sakigake.