TOKYO: Japan’s internal affairs minister has resigned over a funding scandal, becoming the third cabinet member to leave in less than a month.
The departure is a blow to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, whose approval ratings have plunged since the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July revealed long-standing ties between ruling Liberal Democratic Party politicians and the Church of the Church. Unification, a group that critics call a cult.
Internal Affairs Minister Minoru Terada tendered his resignation to Kishida after media reports that the prime minister was preparing to fire him. Kishida’s office could not be reached for comment on those reports.
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at APEC talks ahead of his cabinet’s latest resignation.Credit:access point
A poll conducted over the weekend, before Terada’s resignation, found just 30.5 percent of those polled approved of Kishida, down 2.6 points from a poll in October, Asahi TV said on Monday. Just over half, 51 percent, disapproved of how he had handled the resignation of two previous ministers, economic revitalization minister Daishiro Yamagiwa and justice minister Yasuhiro Hanashi.
Terada, criticized for various funding scandals, has acknowledged that one of his support groups had produced funding documentation apparently signed by a dead person.
Kishida said he had accepted Terada’s resignation to prioritize parliamentary debate, including discussions on a second additional budget for the fiscal year ending in March.
When asked about the fact that three ministers have resigned since October 24, Kishida said that he would like to apologize.
“I feel a great responsibility,” he told reporters. Kishida is likely to nominate Takeaki Matsumoto, a former foreign minister, as Terada’s replacement said on NHK public television.
Terada’s departure could further weaken the embattled prime minister, whose support ratings have hovered below 30 percent in several recent opinion polls, a level that may make it more difficult for him to carry out his political agenda.