安倍・二階派５人、政倫審申し出　２８、２９日開催へ

　自民党の西村康稔前経済産業相ら安倍・二階派幹部５人は２２日、派閥の政治資金パーティー裏金事件に関し、衆院政治倫理審査会への出席を正式に申し出た。自民、立憲民主両党は政倫審を２８、２９両日に開くことで大筋合意した。２６日に幹事会を開き、公開の是非など詳細を詰める。
　衆院予算委員会はこれを受け、２０２４年度予算案採決の前提となる中央公聴会を２９日に開くことを議決した。
　申し出たのは書類提出順に西村氏、松野博一前官房長官、塩谷立元文部科学相、武田良太元総務相、高木毅前国対委員長。塩谷氏は安倍派座長、西村、松野、高木各氏は同派事務総長、武田氏は二階派事務総長を務めた。西村、松野、高木各氏は安倍派「５人衆」と呼ばれる中核議員。
　これに関し、公明党の山口那津男代表は２２日の党会合で「（出席する議員は）説明責任を尽くし、国民の関心に応えられるようにこの機会を生かすべきだ」と述べた。立民の泉健太代表は記者会見で「明確に真実を語ってほしい。そうでなかったときは、次の手段、証人喚問などに移らざるを得ない」と語った。（2024/02/22-13:15）

Five members of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party formally offered on Thursday to appear before the House of Representatives' Deliberative Council on Political Ethics over a high-profile money scandal involving factions at the party.
   The LDP and the leading opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan agreed to convene a meeting of the Lower House ethics council for two days from Wednesday. Details, including whether to make the sessions open to the public, will be decided Monday.
   In response, the Lower House Budget Committee decided to hold on Feb. 29 a key public hearing necessary for the lower chamber of the Diet, the country's parliament, to vote on the government's fiscal 2024 draft budget.
   The LDP aims to ensure the enactment of the budget before the start of the next fiscal year in April by having the draft budget pass through the Lower House by March 2.
   The five who offered to speak at the panel are former industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, former education minister Ryu Shionoya, former internal affairs minister Ryota Takeda and former LDP Diet affairs leader Tsuyoshi Takagi.