The political and financial scandal affecting the ruling party in Japan continues to make waves. Three parliamentary factions of the Liberal Democratic Party announce their imminent dissolution. Among them, the faction of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, increasingly weakened.
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Without a faction, the head of the Japanese government will have difficulty remaining at the head of the party beyond next September. It is at this deadline that the election for the presidency of the PLD must be held. Without a faction, it will be difficult for Fumio Kishida to get re-elected. However, a defeat would cost him his post as Prime Minister.
Among the three factions which announced their dissolution, also the most important, that of the former head of government, assassinated in 2022, Shinzo Abe. It is she who is at the heart of the scandal: its members are suspected of having failed to declare the equivalent of several million euros collected via ticket sales for fundraising evenings, which the PLD allegedly told them. donated.
This Friday, proceedings were launched against two parliamentarians from this Abe faction. Two other elected officials, members of the two other factions, were also charged. Last month, the prime minister sacked four ministers from the largest faction. But since then, his popularity rate has declined further.
“ What happened undermines public confidence in politics and is extremely regrettable “, declared Mr. Kishida, who apologized again for the scandal, on Friday as president of the LDP.
The PLD factions, inherited from the parties that merged to give birth to it in the 1950s, are internal coalitions organized around leaders, and which attract members by promising them electoral support and ministerial positions.