TOKYO, June 29 (Xinhua) -- A former education minister and senior member of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic party on Thursday denied allegations that he received donations from a school operator at the center of an alleged favoritism scandal involving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Liberal Democratic Party Executive Acting Secretary-General Hakubun Shimomura told a press briefing on the matter that reports carried in the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun were false and that his support group had never accepted donations from Kake Educational Institution.
The institution is at the heart of an influence-peddling scandal involving the prime minister allegedly using his position to ensure the school operator, chaired by a close friend of Abe, was selected to open a new veterinary department at a university in a special deregulated zone.
Shukan Bunshun, apparently referencing internal documents from Shimomura's office, reported that Kake Educational Institution purchased party fundraising tickets worth 2 million yen (17,800 U.S. dollars) in 2013 and 2014, while Shimomura's was still serving as education minister.
The magazine reports said that Shimomura's support group Hakuyukai did not record the receipt of the money in its political fund reports as required by Japan's political funds control law.
The law stipulates that a political organization must report any ticket purchase totaling more than 200,000 yen.
Shimomura has argued that the purchases were made by 11 unidentified individuals and companies and that each donation did not exceed the amount required to be recorded as per the law.
Shimomura said that he has never received any political donations from Kake Educational Institution and that the report in the weekly magazine was aimed at smearing the LDP during campaigning ahead of the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election on Sunday.
Opposition parties, however, have invoked Article 53 of the Constitution, in a bid to convene a separate extraordinary parliamentary session to further explore Abe and the Cabinet's involvement in the favoritism allegations.
They have separately demanded another extraordinary session be held following controversial remarks made by Defense Minister Tomomi Inada during campaigning, which violated the Self-Defense Forces law.
The scandals and allegation levied at the LDP come at a time when Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike's newly-formed Tomin First no Kai (Tokyoites First party), is threatening the LDP's dominance in the assembly.
