No plan to call election before scandal-hit figures punished: PM Kishida

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday he does not plan to dissolve the House of Representatives before punishing lawmakers of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party involved in a political funds scandal.In a parliamentary committee session, Kishida, who heads the LDP, said he will reprimand the lawmakers, including heavyweights who belong to the party's biggest faction formerly led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, before the end of the ongoing Diet session through June.Kishida, however, did not elaborate on when he will take the punitive steps against the lawmakers, saying on…READ FULL ARTICLE