[Source: China News Service]
According to CCTV News, citing Kyodo News on December 14 local time, Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasunori Nishimura and Prime Minister Aide Tsuko Ueno submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the same day. In addition, Takeshi Takagi, chief of the Abe faction of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan and chairman of the Diet Policy Committee, met with Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi at the party headquarters on the same day and submitted his resignation.
According to Asahi TV on the 14th, Japan's Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Miyashitaro and Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Junji Suzuki also submitted their resignations on the same day.
In addition, the Comprehensive Current Affairs News Agency and the Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK) reported on the 14th that Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's Political Research Committee Koichi Hagiuda, and Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party House of Councillors Seko Hironari also submitted their resignations on the same day.
Previously reported
- The "eat kickback" scandal ferments
According to previous reports, a number of members of the Abe faction are suspected of receiving kickbacks from the income of political fundraising rallies held by the faction, and the incident has caused a huge shock to Japanese politics after the incident was exposed.
According to Japanese media reports, this faction issued sales targets to its members of the Diet, asking them to sell tickets to political fundraising rallies at a price of 20,000 yen (about 989 yuan) each. If the proceeds from the sale exceed the target, the relevant MPs will receive a kickback. At least from 2018 to 2022, the faction did not record the relevant income in accordance with the regulations, and the cumulative total amount of secret funds was about 100 million yen (about 4.94 million yuan). The Special Investigation Division of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors' Office has opened an investigation on suspicion of violating the Political Funds Regulation Act.
According to the report, most of the "Abe" lawmakers took such kickbacks and did not record them, including six core members of the faction.
- The approval rating of the Kishida cabinet is less than 20%.
According to a December poll conducted by the Japan news agency, the approval rating of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his cabinet has fallen to 17.1%, down another 4.2% from the previous month.
According to the report, this is also the first time that Kishida's approval rating has fallen below 20% since he became prime minister, and it is also the lowest approval rating of the cabinet since the Liberal Democratic Party returned to power in 2012.
Data map: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
- Japan's largest opposition party submitted a motion of no confidence in the Kishida cabinet
According to the Global Times, in response to the Liberal Democratic Party's "kickback" (secret political funds) issue, Japan's largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party, submitted a motion of no confidence in the Kishida cabinet to the House of Representatives on the 13th. Although it was ultimately rejected, some analysts said that the turmoil had endangered the Kishida faction.
According to a report by NHK TV on the 13th, the proposal said that the people have completely lost trust in the cabinet, and the Kishida cabinet should resign immediately. However, in a subsequent vote, the no-confidence motion was rejected by the Liberal Democratic Party and the Komeito Party, which hold a majority of seats in the House of Representatives.
- Fumio Kishida may remove four cabinet members
According to the Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK), Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has decided to significantly adjust the cabinet personnel on the 14th.
Image source: Screenshot of NHK report
According to reports, Kishida will replace the chief cabinet secretary, minister of economy, trade and industry, minister of general affairs and affairs, and minister of agriculture, with former foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi replacing Hirokazu Matsuno as chief cabinet secretary, and Minister of Economy, Industry, General Affairs and Agriculture, and Minister of Agriculture will be held by Takeru Saito, Takeaki Matsumoto, and Tetsushi Sakamoto respectively. All four are not members of the Abe faction.
In addition, Kishida also plans to remove all five other vice ministers belonging to the Abe faction on the 14th.
According to the Global Times, on the same day that Kishida announced the decision to remove, Takeshi Takagi, the chief of affairs in the "five-member group" of the Abe faction and chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's Diet Policy Committee, and Koichi Hagiuda, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's political polling committee, both announced their resignations. Hiroshi Seko, secretary general of the House of Councillors of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), who is part of the "five," will also resign. Previously, Japanese media exposed that all the "five-person group" of the Abe faction were suspected of "eating kickbacks" with huge amounts. Among them, Matsuno, Takagi, and Seko each received more than 10 million yen in kickbacks from the Abe faction.
China News Service (CNS1952) is synthesized from CCTV news client, China News Video, China News Network, and Global Times
Editor: Liang Jing
Editor-in-charge: Peng Dawei
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