Japan's Kishida Ousts Four Cabinet Ministers Over Financial Scandal

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Facts

• Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida forced the resignation of four cabinet ministers on Thursday as the leader looks to regain public trust amid the fallout of a large financial scandal that has haunted his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).¹
• Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, a close ally of Kishida, Economy and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, Internal Affairs Minister Junji Suzuki, and Agriculture Minister Ichiro Miyashita were all let go. The ministers are from Japan’s Abe faction, which is the LDP’s most powerful faction named after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated.²
• Members of the Abe faction allegedly received 500M yen ($3.4M) in political kickbacks, which triggered one of Japan’s largest political crises ever. In addition to the four ministers, Michiko Ueno, a special advisor to Kishida, and five deputy ministers also left their posts; Kishida said that he would deal with the allegations 'head-on.'³
• Prosecutors have launched an investigation into the Abe faction as it looks for the fundraising proceeds missing from party accounts. Dozens of lawmakers are implicated in the scandal and will have their offices investigated as part of the probe, which will also examine whether other LDP factions — including one Kishida led up until last week — are also of interest.⁴
• Former Prime Minister Abe led his namesake faction until his assassination last year, and his faction has led the politically diverse LDP, which has governed Japan for decades with little interruption. An anonymous lawmaker told broadcaster ANN that politicians pocketed excess funds, and Kishida himself allegedly failed to declare more than 20M ($141K) yen in three years.⁵
• Despite the LDP’s dominance since 1955, Kishida has seen his approval rating plummet, and the party’s overall approval rating fell below 30% for the first time since 2012, according to a survey released Tuesday. The LDP’s opposition failed to advance a no-confidence motion against Kishida’s cabinet, and Japan will not hold a general election until 2025.⁶

Sources: ¹Japan today, ²Al Jazeera, ³France 24, ⁴The indian express, ⁵Yahoo news and ⁶BBC News.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Sna japan. While the LDP has built enough power over the last seven decades to not crumble from the Abe era corruption scandal, Japan's ruling party is severely wounded and may not be able to continue its run of dominance forever. Prime Minister Kishida’s approval rating was already falling thanks to debilitating inflation, and now, the Japanese people have even more reason to question the credibility of their government. Corruption plagued the Abe regime, as bureaucrats and legislators lined their pockets, but Kishida may not be completely clean in this scandal either.
• Narrative B, as provided by Nhk. Kishida values maintaining transparency and promoting trust in his government, and his decision to reshuffle his cabinet shows his commitment to stability. Kishida took preemptive measures to root out any corruption that could derail the public's trust in his cabinet, and he is seeking to move the LDP beyond the Abe era. While the faction remains extremely important in the LDP, it's not immune from scrutiny, and the Prime Minister will put the interests of the public above all.

Predictions