According to Kyodo News and TV Asahi, Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasunori Nishimura, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Miyashichiro and Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Junji Suzuki submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the same time on December 14, becoming the first cabinet in Kishida this year.
Fourth, fifth and sixth members resigned. The three previous cabinet members who resigned were also forced to leave their posts because of alleged scandals.
The cabinet members who resigned were involved in a number of scandals, including non-payment of taxes and extramarital affairs. The first to resign was Taro Yamada, then the political secretary of Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, who resigned as an administrative officer on October 26 after an extramarital affair scandal was exposed. Subsequently, Japan's vice minister of justice at the time, Kakisawa Mito, also resigned on suspicion of violating the Public Office Election Law. Kenji Kanda, then Japan's vice minister of finance, was forced to ** because of tax arrears. The three scandals led to a sharp drop in the approval ratings of Kishida's cabinet. According to the results of a poll released by the Mainichi Shimbun on November 19, the approval rating of the Kishida cabinet fell to 21%, the lowest point since he became prime minister, while the approval rating of the Kishida cabinet rose to 74%, a record high. In Japan, a cabinet approval rating of less than 30% is considered "dangerous waters", and if it falls further below 20%, it is considered "**waters".
The large-scale resignation of cabinet members has undoubtedly exerted tremendous pressure on the Kishida cabinet, and has also increased calls for him to be reshuffled or even held ahead of schedule. However, why would Kishida "let such a situation happen"?The reason for this is Japan's biggest recent political upheaval, the "faction" collective corruption case.
It is understood that Yasunori Nishimura, Miyashita, and Ichiro Miyauchi, who resigned, are all members of the * faction, the largest faction within Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party. In the past few months, and especially since December 8, not only these three people, but about half of the powerful figures and members of the ** faction have been implicated in corruption cases. The fuse of this "** is secret political funds, that is, "banquet coupons".
In Japan, politicians and factions within political parties raise the necessary political funds by offering "banquet tickets" worth about 20,000 yen to their supporters through banquets under various names. For example, it is reported that Fumio Kishida held a total of 8 "political funding banquets" in 2022, raising 1500 million yen, the total cost is only 19 million yen, and the profit margin is as high as 87%. However, according to Japanese regulations, the funds raised by members of the Diet by holding such banquets must be clearly booked and detailed income and expenditure reports.
Recently, some members of the Japanese Diet have not declared the income of the "banquet vouchers" they have raised, and have taken the issue of kickbacks privately. According to reports, this involves dozens of members of the Diet from the "** faction" and the "second-order faction" faction within the Liberal Democratic Party, and the total amount may be as high as 500 million yen (about 24.7 million yuan). To this end, the Special Investigation Division of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors' Office has launched an investigation. The three cabinet members who resigned, Koichi Hagiuda, chairman of Japan's political polls, and Hiroshi Seko, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, were also involved.
In response, according to Japan, Kishida plans to remove all the ministers, vice ministers and political officials who belong to the "** faction" in the current cabinet, a total of 15 people. There will not be any members of the ** faction in the next cabinet. The news has already attracted a lot of attention, as the approval rating of the Kishida cabinet could fall further after losing the support of the largest faction.
According to an online poll conducted by the Japan Social Survey Research Center on December 6, the latest approval rating of Kishida's cabinet has fallen to 17%, breaking the lowest level since the survey last October, with opponents reaching 71%. More than half of the respondents want Kishida to resign, and only 7% want him to remain prime minister until next September, when he is the president of the Liberal Democratic Party**, indicating the level of political pressure he faces.
In addition to the instability of Kishida's cabinet, this corruption storm is also looming over Kishida himself. The Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK) reported that in addition to the "** faction" and the "Nikai faction", the "Koike Policy Research Association" (known as the "Kishida faction"), which Kishida previously chaired, was also found to have recorded an amount less than the actual income in the report on the income and expenditure of political funds.
This corruption storm is undoubtedly a huge crisis for the Kishida cabinet, and it has also had a major impact on Japanese politics as a whole. The large number of cabinet members who resigned and the wide range of people involved in the case are increasing the pressure on the outside world to reshuffle the Kishida cabinet and even advance it. Kishida's plan to remove all members belonging to the "** faction" will have a major impact on his cabinet and also herald a major change in Japan's political landscape.
However, in this case, we cannot ignore the impact on Japanese society as a whole. The outbreak of the corruption storm has aroused the public's concern about the problem of corruption, and also deepened the suspicion of the political and economic system. Opinion polls show that the Japanese people's support for the Kishida cabinet has dropped sharply, and the number of opponents has increased rapidly, which reflects people's dissatisfaction with **. In addition, the corruption scandal has also seriously affected the image and reputation of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, making Japanese politics face more challenges.
Finally, we can see from this incident that whether it is the wide-ranging cabinet resignations of major countries or the corruption of politicians that arouses social concern, it shows the huge impact of political corruption on society, politics and the economy. It is only through the strengthening of anti-corruption efforts and the establishment of a more transparent political system that the foundation for the long-term stability and sound development of the country can be laid.
What do you think is the impact of this corruption storm on Japanese politics?For the Kishida Cabinet, how should this crisis be over?Please leave a comment to share your views with us.