"Kickback Gate" Fermentation Kishida plans to remove all "** faction" cabinet officials.
Japan** has not been quiet lately.
At first, a Japanese university professor exposed that the political funds of the five factions of the Liberal Democratic Party totaling 40 million yen (about 2 million yuan) were not properly recorded, and then accused a number of "** faction" heavyweights of being involved in the suspicion of receiving kickbacks. Japan's main opposition party, the Riksun Party, announced on December 11 that it had filed a motion of no confidence against Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno. Another important member of Kishida's cabinet, Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasunori Nishimura, apologized at the plenary session of the House of Councillors on the same day for the issue of kickbacks for political funds from the "** faction".
According to Japan's Kyodo News Agency 11**, on the issue of the withdrawal of deductions for the political fund-raising banquet of the ** faction of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to remove all the cabinet ministers, vice ministers, and political officials of the "** faction", a total of 15 people, which have been coordinated, and may be implemented as soon as this week after the closing of the Diet on the 13th.
Kishida was asked at his official residence on the morning of the 11th whether he would reshuffle the cabinet and adjust the party's top personnel, saying, "In order to avoid delays in national affairs, I will consider appropriate responses at the right time." He also stressed: "Doubts about political funding are spreading among the people. I am seriously aware of this and have a sense of crisis. ”
In addition to Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, who has actually decided to be replaced, there are four ministers, including Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasunori Nishimura, Minister of General Affairs Junji Suzuki, and Minister of Agriculture Miyashitaro. There are 5 Vice-Ministers and 6 Parliamentary Officers. Takagi and Hagiuda, as well as the secretary general of the House of Councillors, Hiroshi Seko, currently hold key positions in the LDP.
Source: Kyodo News Agency.
"Banquet tickets" are an important means for Japanese political groups to accumulate wealth.
In order to raise funds, Japanese political parties and members of the Diet often hold banquets under various names, and those who attend the banquets have to pay a fee, which is actually used to raise political funds. Each political faction requires members to pay a membership fee, which is generally 50,000 yen (about 2,500 yuan). In addition to receiving support from faction leaders for the political activities of parliamentarians, they can also receive financial rebates by completing the quota of political funds raised.
For example, "banquet tickets" are a common form of political fund-raising, and according to the qualifications of the electors, the quota for raising parliamentarians is 600,000 yen (about 30,000 yuan (about 60,000 yuan) to 4 million yen (about 200,000 yuan). After the above-mentioned quota is completed, the excess amount raised is in violation of the law on the regulation of political funds, and through non-accounting and non-reporting, it becomes gray income, and finally flows into the pockets of politicians.
In order to avoid the privatization of political funds as much as possible, Japan has enacted the "Political Funds Regulation Law" as the basic law for the regulation of political funds, and supplemented by the "Public Office Election Law" to achieve comprehensive supervision of political funds.
According to the Political Funds Regulation Act, the income from "banquet tickets" must be clearly booked and reported in detail, and the income and expenditure report must also be submitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications or the local ** Election Management Commission. Despite this, the Asahi Shimbun broke the news that it is currently in the hands of Hiroshi Matsuno.
1. Seko Hiroshi and Takagi Takeshi are both suspected of having more than 10 million yen (about 500,000 yuan) unrecorded, Hagiuda Koichi and Shiotani are about millions of yen, and Nishimura Yasunori is about 1 million yen (about 50,000 yuan).
*Pai is accused of turning more than 100 million yen (about 5 million yuan) of political funds into a "small treasury" over a five-year period from 2018 to 2022, and the Special Investigation Department of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors' Office has summoned 50 prosecutors from all over the country on suspicion of violating the "Political Funds Regulation Act" and is investigating it.
Kishida is the real loser of the "kickback gate"?
The "** faction" affected by the "kickbackgate" this time belongs to one of the five major factions of the Liberal Democratic Party, and among the five major factions of the Liberal Democratic Party, the "* faction" has the largest number of people, accounting for 100 people. The other four factions are the "Aso faction" with 55 members, the "Motegi faction" with 54 members, the "Kishida faction" with 46 members, and the "Nikai faction" with 42 members. The formation of factions in the LDP was influenced by the adoption of the central electoral district system in the early elections of the House of Representatives in Japan, and the five major factions in the party gradually formed, although they have undergone changes in the political ecology, they still continue to this day.
*Pie used to be very popular.
*faction, officially known as the "Seiwa Policy Research Society", was previously led by former Prime Minister Shinzo. Since Shinzo was shot dead in July 2022, the "* faction" has been leaderless for nearly a year, and the "five-member core group" of the faction is currently in charge of the president's affairs, namely Hikaru Hagiuda.
1. Yasunori Nishimura, Hiroshi Matsuno.
1. Takeshi Takagi, Chairman of the Diet Policy Committee, and Hiroshi Seko, Secretary General of the House of Councillors. In other words, none of the members of the "five-member core group" were spared in this political turmoil. Japan's Kyodo News Agency pointed out that as the largest faction in the Liberal Democratic Party, it would be a very rare situation for the "* faction" to have no one hold the three important positions of government affairs (minister, vice minister, and administrative officer).
Since 2000, the "* faction" has dominated Japan for many years. With the accidental killing of ** and the ability of the successor to be unconvincing, the faction is facing an existential crisis, and its influence will inevitably decline, and some voices are beginning to believe that the era of the "* faction" ruling within the LDP may soon be over.
In September this year, Kishida had already undergone a cabinet reshuffle, and as the fourth largest faction of the Liberal Democratic Party, Kishida had to rely on the political influence of the "** faction", with four members of the "* faction" and the "Aso faction" each entering the cabinet. It can be seen from this that Kishida hopes to achieve the expectations of a balanced cabinet with the help of various forces, but as soon as the "kickback gate" came out, this political balance was broken. It can be said that it was the "** faction" that was "washed in blood", but Kishida was the real loser.
Kishida's political outlook is not encouraging.
At present, the approval rating of Kishida's cabinet has fallen below 30%, the lowest since he became prime minister in October 2021. The "kickbackgate" further hit Kishida**'s support among the people. In response to the issue of political funding for factions within the LDP, Kishida instructed the party's top brass not to provide political funding to factions for the time being until necessary measures are taken to restore public trust.
On December 11, Japanese media said that the approval rating of Kishida's cabinet was only 225%。
On December, Fumio Kishida officially announced his decision to resign as chairman of the Kishida faction within the Liberal Democratic Party, but continue to serve as prime minister.
There is a view within Japan** and the Liberal Democratic Party that "if there is no cabinet reshuffle or reshuffle of senior party cadres, it will be difficult for the government to continue." "Kishida intends to assess the impact of the situation on the operation of the regime and the direction of **, and carefully consider countermeasures.
Since Kishida took office, a number of policies have been criticized, and Kishida** has been slow to respond to the "kickback door". On December 4, many days after the scandal broke, Kishida said at a meeting of LDP party leaders that "** will also consider how to respond", and lost the opportunity to respond.
Opinion polls show that the Liberal Democratic Party has a big problem dealing with the "kickbackgate" 726%。
Due to the dissatisfaction of the Japanese people with the rising cost of living, and the imminent preparation for tax increases, coupled with the drag of the "kickback gate", 75% of the Japanese people do not have too high expectations for Kishida's economic policies, and the call for "transposition" is getting louder and louder.
According to Japanese media FNN, in the poll of who is more suitable to be the next prime minister, there are only 25% of respondents believe that Fumio Kishida is the frontrunner, and the leader is Shigeru Ishiba, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party. Shigeru Ishiba, Environmental Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, and Digital Minister Taro Kono all have double-digit approval ratings, leading Kishida by a wide margin.
Kishida's chances of becoming the next prime minister are not high, even lower than his predecessor, Yoshihide Suga.
At present, it seems that if Kishida wants to save the gloomy political prospects, a cabinet reshuffle may not be enough.
Author丨Yang Ying, the chief writer of Shenzhen Satellite TV Direct News.