Tokyo: Hiroyuki Hosoda, Speaker of the House of Representatives (lower house) of Japan, on Friday admitted he had attended more events connected to the controversial religious sect, Unification Church, than he had previously acknowledged.
Hosoda told parliamentary representatives in a meeting on the issue that as well as four gatherings he previously admitted to attending between 2018 and 2019 hosted by the sect, he attended four more events and sent three messages, reports Xinhua news agency.
The chairman of the Committee on Rules and Administration of the lower house informed reporters of the latest admission by Hosoda who was already under fire from opposition parties over his affiliation to the group, according to public broadcaster NHK.
The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), among other opposition parties, have lambasted his initial admission of links to the organisation, often referred to as a cult.
On Friday, a CDPJ lawmaker said that doubts remained about Hosoda’s statement and admissions, with particular regard to the dubious church supporting the Speaker in election campaigns when he headed a ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) faction.
Hosoda has denied such electoral support was provided by the religious group based in his constituency of Shimane prefecture.
Calls from the opposition camp for Hosoda to step down or be fired over the matter have intensified following an internal probe by the LDP last month revealing about half of the LDP’s lawmakers had ties with the controversial organization, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.
Pressure has been mounting on the wider ruling LDP headed by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, amid slumping public support, to explain its connections to the organization.
The religious sect has been known for coercing massive amounts of money in “spiritual sales” from its followers in return for “spiritual” or “karmic” benefits.
The sect came to the limelight after Tetsuya Yamagami, who fatally shot former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on July 8, blamed the organisation for his family’s financial ruin.
–IANS