TOKYO -- Japan's Parliament on Wednesday approved the arrest of a former ruling party powerbroker for alleged bribe-taking, the culmination of a scandal that has battered the government's popularity.

Lawmaker Muneo Suzuki, who was not present at the parliamentary session, is expected to be arrested later in the day on suspicion of accepting bribes from a lumber firm, Japanese media said.

A lawmaker cannot be arrested without the approval of Parliament while it is in session.

Suzuki, who has become a symbol of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's money politics, left the LDP in March over a string of alleged misdeeds, including meddling in diplomacy and intervening in the awarding of public works contracts in return for political donations.

But he has resisted pressure to resign his seat and denies any wrongdoing, saying he is the target of a witch-hunt by prosecutors more intent on arresting him than clarifying facts.

The Furore over Suzuki, as well as other party scandals, has delayed the passage of key legislation and eaten away at the popularity of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, leaving him vulnerable to attacks from anti-reformers inside his own party.

It has also strengthened growing public distrust of politicians in general -- particularly since various scandals have forced three other lawmakers, two of them from the LDP, to resign in the last four months.

Koizumi swept to power in April 2001 pledging to clean up the LDP and push through economic reforms.

--- "A Nest of Criminals" --- In an editorial titled: "Is Parliament a Nest of Criminals?", the liberal ***Asahi Shimbun*** newspaper called on politicians to take immediate steps to clean up their act.

"Much fuss has been made about 'political purification', but some lawmaker is arrested nearly every year," it said.

"Aren't politicians ashamed that Parliament, and the LDP in particular, appears to be thought of almost as a nest of criminals?" As arrest looms for Suzuki, many of his former comrades in the party's largest faction have shown no compunction in throwing him to the wolves.

A senior faction official was quoted by the English-language ***Japan Times*** as saying: "Of course we will vote to approve the request for his arrest." The timing is awkward for the faction, which is led by former prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and opposes Koizumi's reform efforts, as it is trying to reassert its influence within the party as Koizumi's popularity wanes.

But it is worse for Koizumi, whose legislative agenda has taken such a beating from the succession of scandals that enactment of important bills has been delayed, forcing the extension of the current parliamentary session by 42 days.