A senior Liberal Democratic Party official suggested Tuesday that lawmakers should be eligible to receive the government's cash payout plan, going against Prime Minister Taro Aso's past statements that the plan is designed to help the vulnerable rather than the rich.
"Because the scheme is an economic measure, Diet members should not turn it down, but rather receive it and use the cash," LDP Secretary General Hiroyuki Hosoda said at a meeting of the LDP-New Komeito coalition, according to Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Jun Matsumoto, who briefed the media on the meeting.
Matsumoto explained that Hosoda's comment was based on the idea that using the cash is important to stimulate the economy.