According to Japan's Kyodo News Agency today (December 12), Japan's ** relevant personnel said on the same day that due to the impact of the incident in which many members of the Liberal Democratic Party ** faction were suspected of receiving kickbacks from the income of political fund-raising rallies held by the faction, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida may remove 4 cabinet members including Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno on the 14th. In the past few days, Japan has continued to pay attention to and report on the secret political funding scandal of the largest faction of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party
Japan's domestic analysis pointed out that Kishida's adjustment of the cabinet will be unprecedented, Kyodo News pointed out in a previous report that Kishida Fumio intends to remove the "** faction" of the cabinet, vice ministers, and political officials A total of 15 people, which have been coordinated at present, will be implemented as soon as the 13th after the adjournment of the extraordinary Diet session. On the same day, the Special Investigation Division of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors' Office is expected to interview four former chiefs, including Hirokazu Matsuno.
The Special Investigation Department of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors' Office has summoned about 50 prosecutors from all over the country to prepare to participate in the investigation, according to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun 10**. The report quoted a former prosecutor as saying: "This scale was unprecedented in the past. I could feel the seriousness of the investigation. ”
When meeting reporters on the morning of the 11th, Fumio Kishida only said that he would respond appropriately at the appropriate time. We will take seriously the growing public suspicion caused by the Liberal Democratic Party scandal and consider making appropriate responses in order to restore the trust of the people and avoid bringing national affairs to a standstill.
The "second-in-command" of the cabinet was exposed to kickbacks, and the Kishida regime is facing a "big **".
The turmoil began with a criminal complaint filed by a professor at a Japanese university to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office, alleging that various political factions of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) were suspected of deliberately concealing political fund income and underreporting political fund income by at least 40 million yen between 2018 and 2021, in violation of the Political Fund Regulation Act. A source pointed out that in the past five years, the ** faction has not recorded the above-mentioned income and expenditure in accordance with relevant regulations, and the cumulative total amount of the secret fund may have reached hundreds of millions of yen.
According to an NHK TV investigation, in 2022 alone, the political funding income of the five major factions in the LDP was underreported by at least 6.06 million yen. Among them, the "** faction", which has 99 members of the Diet and is the largest faction in the Liberal Democratic Party, has become the protagonist of this scandal.
Screenshot of NHK-related reports.
Japan's Liberal Democratic Party's Seiwa Policy Research Association held a political party at the Tokyo Prince Hotel on May 16.
At present, Japan's ** revelations involved in the case include the "five major King Kongs" including Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu, and the other four in addition to Matsuno Hirokazu are Takeshi Takagi, chairman of the Diet Countermeasures Committee, Hiroshi Seko, secretary general of the House of Councillors of the Liberal Democratic Party, and Hikaru Hagiuda, chairman of the party and government polling committee.
1. Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasunori Nishimura. According to Kyodo News quoted by a source, Kishida has basically decided to remove the person involved, which is a very risky but forced choice. On the 10th, Kishida was in a hotel in Tokyo and the Prime Minister's official residence with Hikaru Hagiuda.
1. Toshimitsu Motegi and Yu Moriyama met, believing that it was to coordinate personnel changes.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno's possible removal is of particular concern, as he is suspected of receiving kickbacks of more than 10 million yen in the past five years. Although Hirokazu Matsuno was asked at a press conference on the 11th whether he would resign as chief cabinet secretary, he said, "I will continue to perform my duties." However, it has been pointed out that Japan's Constitutional Democratic Party has planned to put forward a motion of no confidence in Hirokazu Matsuno in the Diet, and Kishida may have no room for maneuver in removing the candidate.
Fumio Kishida (left) and Hirokazu Matsuno (right) in the Diet.
In Japan's political structure (without a deputy prime minister), the Chief Cabinet Secretary is the second position after the prime minister, and is the "second-in-command" of the cabinet, not only responsible for cross-departmental policy coordination, but also responsible for the release of information and daily interviews with reporters. Kyodo News said on the 10th that recently, Hirokazu Matsuno was mainly asked about the flow of funds at daily press conferences, and his function of releasing cabinet information to the outside world is equivalent to "paralysis". The report mentioned that if he resigns as chief cabinet secretary, it will be a rare personnel change in Japan. At the same time, a "domino effect" may occur, and if Matsuno **, the effect may cause the Kishida cabinet to fall with it. Some people in Japan have pointed out that this is the biggest crisis facing the Liberal Democratic regime in Japan since the "Lockheed Incident" in 1976.
* Inheritance" has become Kishida's burden.
In August 2022, affected by the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo **, Japan's ** "Unification Church" scandal continued to ferment, Kishida was forced to change more than half of the cabinet members under pressure from many parties, and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi and Chairman of the National Public Security Commission Nino Yuchi and other "** faction" cabinet members related to the "Unification Church" were replaced.
In September 2023, Kishida promoted the second round of cabinet reshuffle, and 11 new faces were replaced among the 19 cabinet members.
*The faction, officially known as the "Seiwa Policy Research Association", was previously led by former Prime Minister Shinzo. The "* faction" has always had a huge influence in Japan, and Fumio Kishida is also considered to rely on the "** faction" to become the prime minister, but after the assassination of ** Shinzo, the "* faction" did not find the "** person", and it is observed that the faction has faced an existential crisis, and its influence is inevitably declining, and even some voices within the Liberal Democratic Party began to believe that the era of the "* faction" ruling within the Liberal Democratic Party may soon be over.
For Fumio Kishida, who wants to seek re-election as president of the Liberal Democratic Party in the fall of 2024, the "* faction" has become a negative asset, and since Fumio Kishida came to power, the "Unification Church" incident and "state funeral diplomacy" are its minus.
Judging from Kishida's previous two cabinet reshuffles, the proportion of the "* faction" in the cabinet is also decreasing one by one, showing that Kishida is rebalancing the factions within the party and gradually getting rid of the influence of the "** faction".
Author: Huang Zixi, Shenzhen Satellite TV direct news reporter.