TOKYO - A bombshell report has surfaced in Kanagawa Prefecture, the political base of Shinjiro Koizumi, where as many as 826 members of the Liberal Democratic Party aligned with the Takaichi faction were treated as having resigned from the party without their consent, according to an investigation by the weekly magazine Bunshun.
Former Lower House member Nobuhiro Nakayama disclosed under his real name that of the roughly 1,000 people he had personally encouraged to join the party, 826 were suddenly recorded as having left without any confirmation of intent. "Of those I asked to become members, the vast majority were stripped of their membership without being consulted," Nakayama said.
The revelation goes far beyond issues of mere campaign maneuvering or stealth marketing, raising questions of whether internal party membership rolls themselves were manipulated. If confirmed, such actions could strike at the very foundation of Japan’s democratic process.
Who authorized or orchestrated this sweeping removal remains unclear, and pressure is now mounting on both the Liberal Democratic Party leadership and Koizumi’s local camp to provide a clear explanation.
Source: 日本の声【政治・時事ニュース】
