Japan's Prime Minister and President of the Liberal Democratic Party Fumio Kishida delivers a speech during the Liberal Democratic Party's convention in Tokyo March 17, 2024. (PHOTO / AP)

TOKYO — Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has announced its punishment for 39 members over a political fund scandal, including urging two to leave the party, in a bid to mitigate the negative repercussions of the kickback scandal since late last year.

The decision, involving 38 lawmakers associated with factions previously led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and former Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai, along with one non-parliamentarian, was announced following a meeting of the LDP's disciplinary committee on Thursday.

Local media reports showed that the factions were found to have neglected to fully report revenue from fundraising parties for years, with hundreds of millions of Japanese yen passed back to members who had sold tickets to the events.

The LDP disciplinary measures consist of eight levels, with the most severe being expulsion. Former education minister Ryu Shionoya, also former leader of the Abe faction, and Hiroshige Seko, former LDP secretary general in the House of Councilors who is also a high-ranking member of the Abe faction, received the second-harshest penalty, being urged to leave the party.

According to national news agency Kyodo, Seko told reporters he offered to leave the party while Shionoya criticized a decision not to punish Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, saying it would only be "fair" to give the prime minister the same treatment.

A total of 10 individuals belonging to three LDP factions, including the one Kishida led until December, have been either indicted or issued summary indictments for violating the political funds control law. They have decided to disband over the scandal.

Among other senior Abe faction members, former trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura and former LDP policy chief Hakubun Shimomura faced a one-year suspension of party membership, while Tsuyoshi Takagi, who served as secretary general of the Abe faction and LDP Diet affairs chief, was penalized with a half-year party membership suspension.

The remaining 34 individuals were either relieved of their internal party duties or given warnings.

The punishment marks the first large-scale disciplinary action within the LDP since 2005 after the party was rocked by the slush fund scandal in November of last year, and approval ratings for the ruling party and Kishida cabinet sank to record lows as the scandal continued to unfold.