裏金議員公認「新体制が決める」　自民・石破氏、発言を軌道修正

　自民党の石破茂元幹事長は２５日、派閥裏金事件に関係した国会議員の選挙での公認について、「新体制になってどうするのか決める。（党総裁に）なってもいない者が予断を持って言うべきではない」と述べ、非公認の可能性に言及した２４日の発言の軌道修正を図った。鳥取県倉吉市で記者団に語った。
　石破氏は２４日に自民党総裁選への出馬を表明した際に「公認にふさわしいか、議論は選対委員会で徹底的に行われるべきだ」と指摘。安倍派議員から反発が出ていた。（2024/08/25-16:14）

Shigeru Ishiba, former secretary-general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party who has declared his bid for party presidency, on Sunday adjusted his remark made the previous day about the fate of LDP lawmakers linked to the party's slush funds scandal.
   "The new leadership team will decide" whether the LDP should endorse such lawmakers as the party's official candidates in upcoming elections, Ishiba told reporters in Kurayoshi, Tottori Prefecture, western Japan.
   "Someone who has yet to become party chief should not comment with prejudice" on the matter, Ishiba added.
   On Saturday, when he announced his candidacy in the Sept. 27 LDP presidential election, Ishiba said that the LDP Election Strategy Committee should thoroughly deliberate on whether lawmakers linked to the scandal deserve to be the party's official candidates. This statement had drawn a backlash from former members of the LDP faction previously led by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which was at the center of the slush funds scandal involving fundraising parties.
   Among others whose names are being floated as possible runners in the election to pick a successor to current LDP chief and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, former internal affairs minister Seiko Noda has also touched on the possibility of the party not officially endorsing scandal-hit lawmakers.