Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has told a Lower House ethics council that his party will consider whether to discipline Diet members who were involved in a fundraising scandal, depending on their explanations.

Kishida addressed the Deliberative Council for Political Ethics on Thursday, becoming the first incumbent prime minister to do so. The session was open to the media. Former internal affairs minister Takeda Ryota, who belongs to the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Nikai faction, also took part. The council will meet again on Friday.

Kishida said he wants to deeply apologize to the public as the LDP president for the fact that issues involving the political funds of LDP factions have caused distrust in politics.

He noted that if the scandal was caused by the failure of politicians to obey the law, reforms must be carried out to achieve thorough awareness of compliance.

Kishida explained that an inquiry by the party, including interviews with the relevant lawmakers, has so far not found any cases of Diet members personally receiving money from their factions.

He also said there have not been any reports of lawmakers using refunded money for other uses than political activities, or for illegal purposes. The refunds, known as kickbacks, are retained excesses from fundraiser ticket sales.

The prime minister said officials of his party are discussing legal amendments, including a guilt-by-association system in which lawmakers could be held responsible for accounting violations.

Kishida said the LDP will promote relevant legal revisions during the current Diet session after reaching agreements with other political parties.

Former prime minister Noda Yoshihiko of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan said that all lawmakers involved in "slush funds" bear a heavy political responsibility. He said this will all happen again if they get away without criminal charges, without being held responsible, without having to explain themselves, without paying taxes, and without being punished. Noda said it's time for Kishida to exercise leadership and consider reprimanding those who were involved.

Kishida answered that the party will decide how those involved should take political responsibility, including being punished. It will take into account how they honor their responsibility to explain themselves and what the facts are.

Kishida was also asked when and by whose direction the LDP's largest Abe faction began the practice of kickbacks and excluding some funds in its financial reports.

The prime minister answered that he was unfortunately unable to clearly confirm who took these actions or when they started.

Kishida added that he will not hold any fundraising parties while he is prime minister.