Japan PM ousts four cabinet ministers in bid to ride out financial scandal

Embattled Japanese premier Fumio Kishida ousted four cabinet ministers on Thursday as he tried to limit the fallout from the biggest financial scandal his ruling party has faced in decades.

The ministers included chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno and industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura in Mr Kishida’s third cabinet shake-up in 16 months, as he looks to shore up his sliding public ratings.

“In light of the various allegations ... which have shaken the public trust in politics, and the various allegations made regarding my own political funds, I have submitted my resignation,” Mr Matsuno said in a press conference earlier.

Former foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi will replace Mr Matsuno in the critical role, co-ordinating government policy on the premier’s behalf, while former justice minister Ken Saito takes over from Mr Nishimura.

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The axed ministers all hail from the most powerful faction in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) that is at the centre of a criminal investigation into missing accounts. Several deputy ministers are also set to go.

The investigation centres on the LDP’s Abe faction, named for assassinated premier Shinzo Abe, and is checking if dozens of lawmakers benefited from fundraising events that kept some 500 million yen (€3.2 million) off official party records, media have said.

It will also examine if other LDP factions, including the one Mr Kishida led until last week, are involved, the reports said.

The scandal has taken a further toll with the resignation of a top LDP official who oversees budget proposals, while media say Mr Kishida is considering shelving plans for a trip to Brazil and Chile next month.

Mr Kishida does not need to call an election until October 2025 and a fractured opposition has historically struggled to make sustained inroads into the dominance of his LDP.

But political analysts have questioned whether, faced with waning public support, he can survive until September, when a leadership vote for the ruling party is due.

A poll on Thursday suggested that the clear out, which media have speculated about for days, was unlikely to halt the slide in public support for Mr Kishida, who has been dogged by a series of scandals since coming to office in October 2021. – Reuters