Four Japanese ministers resign over fundraising scandal

 

Four Japanese ministers tendered their resignations on Thursday amid allegations of unreported funds and kickbacks within the ruling party and hours before the appointment of their replacements.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, the government’s top spokesperson, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Suzuki Junji, and Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Miyashita Ichiro presented their resignation to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday.

The resignations came hours after Kishida confirmed his plan to replace members of his Cabinet amid a probe into kickbacks by senior officials of the government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The scandal has triggered a crisis in Kishida’s already beleaguered administration, whose approval ratings are at rock bottom.

In a press conference after submitting all four letters of resignation, Matsuno said he was aware of the public’s distrust of politics the case was generating.

Former Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi is expected to replace Matsuno as spokesperson, former Justice Minister Ken Saito is expected to take over the economy and trade portfolio while Takeaki Matsumoto will return as internal affairs minister after being replaced in the last Cabinet reshuffle, and former minister in charge of regional revitalization, Tetsushi Sakamoto, will take over agriculture.

The prosecutors are investigating income from fundraising events – organized by factions of or political groups within the ruling party – which went to senior officials who allegedly did not declare them in violation of the country’s laws.

The kickbacks amounted to at least 500 million yen ($3.53 million) and were distributed among dozens of members of one of the main factions of the LDP, according to local media reports.

Other important LPD figures hit by the scandal include the party’s secretary-general for the Upper House, Hiroshige Seko, the head of election strategy, Koichi Hagiuda, and the former Olympics minister, Seiko Hashimoto.

Changes are also expected among the party’s top officials, some of whom have already announced their resignations.