TOKYO- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday he will explain before a parliamentary committee the favoritism scandal with a school operator run by his close friend at the center.

Abe phoned Wataru Takeshita, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's parliamentary affairs chief, and told that he intends to attend an opposition-sought session of the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Japan's Diet, for the explanation.

Earlier the same day, Takeshita initially rejected a proposal by Kazunori Yamanoi, the leading opposition Democratic Party's Diet affairs head, to hold the committee's meeting for deliberations to clarify whether the school operator, Kake Educational Institution, was actually given favorable treatment in a government deregulation project to allow the opening of an animal medicine department in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture.

Yamanoi requested the attendance of government and Kake officials involved, including Koichi Hagiuda and Kazuhiro Sugita, both deputy chief cabinet secretary, as well as Kake Education head Kotaro Kake, in addition to the prime minister.

When his proposal was turned down, Yamanoi accused Abe of "fleeing" from public scrutiny.

After the phone talks with Abe, Takeshita told his DP counterpart that he hopes to start talks with the opposition camp to decide when to hold the session.

The opposition side is expected to demand that the meeting be convened by the end of the month so incumbent cabinet ministers who are familiar with the school issue's details can be questioned before a cabinet reshuffle, set to be carried out in early August. (Jiji Press)