Former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka will be summoned to appear before a special parliamentary ethics panel during the current Diet session to answer allegations that she misused the salaries paid by the government to two secretaries, lawmakers said Tuesday.
The decision was made by executives of the Lower House Steering Committee. The panel is discussing whether the meeting of the Political Ethics Council, which generally meets behind closed doors, should be public.
Yoshinori Ono of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party told reporters that Tanaka's hearing should be open because Kiyomi Tsujimoto, a former Social Democratic Party lawmaker involved in a similar scandal regarding a secretary's salary, had to explain her situation in a public session of the Diet.
Yoshiaki Takaki, of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, also said he wants Tanaka to appear in an open meeting so the Political Ethics Council can respond to public concern about the matter.
The LDP suspended Tanaka from the party for two years, beginning June 20, on the grounds she was not cooperating with its investigation into the affair.
Senior LDP members have accused Tanaka of failing to completely dismiss allegations that she misused the salaries of two of her secretaries around 1998. Tanaka has flatly denied any wrongdoing.