Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's ruling Liberal Democratic Party revised internal rules on Sunday to toughen penalties for lawmakers involved in political funds scandals, as public trust in politics has been declining significantly.
The LDP has come under intense scrutiny amid allegations that some of its factions, including the largest one, once led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, neglected to report portions of their income from fundraising parties and created slush funds for years.
In amending its regulations, the LDP also pledged to move away from factions as vehicles for securing funds and allocating major government and party posts to lawmakers, while allowing such intraparty entities to continue as "policy groups."