Towards an implosion of the Japanese government? The Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, replaced four of his ministers and eight other officials this Thursday, December 14, including five vice-ministers and the head of the political bureau of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD) – the political group which governs the country almost without interruption since its founding in 1955.
The objective of this large reshuffle? Put out the fire caused by a vast financial fraud scandal within his party, while investigators were preparing to search the offices of dozens of PLD officials, as claimed The Guardian.
They would be particularly interested in the members of the most important internal faction of the PLD, the “Abe faction”, led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, assassinated in July 2022. All the resignations are suspected of having failed to declare the The equivalent of several million euros, collected through the sale of tickets for fundraising evenings, and which the party would then have donated to them.
New ministers outside the “Abe faction”
They would have received some 500 million yen (3.2 million euros) over a period of five years, until 2022. A situation which would be due to “very permissive legislation” in Japan, specifies the daily Release : “Political entities are in fact authorized to sell at high prices and in excess to companies, individuals and other potential buyers of places for receptions in the presence of elected officials, evenings which serve as pretexts for disguised donations.”
While he had managed to keep his place during the previous reshuffle in September, the former general secretary and government spokesperson, Hirokazu Matsuno, was replaced by Yoshimasa Hayashi. The latter lost his post as Minister of Foreign Affairs three months ago.
Same observation for Yasutoshi Nishimura, formerly head of the powerful Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Meti), and who lost his place to Ken Saito, former Minister of Justice. For the Prime Minister, these ghosts have the advantage of not belonging to the “Abe faction”.
Declining popularity of the Prime Minister
Deeming it “extremely regrettable that the situation has aroused distrust among the population”, Fumio Kishida promised on Wednesday to “turn into a ball of fire to restore confidence in the government” and to “proceed quickly” with new appointments this Thursday.
Arriving in power in the fall of 2021, the Prime Minister had already seen his popularity crumble due to several areas of discontent, including persistent inflation and the fall in the yen which are weakening the purchasing power of households. He is now only credited with 17.1% favorable opinions according to a survey released this Thursday by the Japanese press agency Jiji. A drop of 4.2 points compared to the previous month.
The head of government can theoretically stay in power until 2025, but some analysts speculate on the possible calling of early elections before an internal vote in the PLD next year, which could prove difficult for Fumio Kishida.