Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is at the lowest point in the polls, is due to announce on Wednesday the resignation of several ministers from his government caught up in a huge financial fraud scandal within his party, according to Japanese media.
Senior leaders are expected to lose their positions, including Secretary-General and government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno and Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura.
Mr Kishida, who has been in power since October 2021, is expected to announce his decision at a press conference scheduled for 6:15 p.m. local time (9:15 a.m. GMT) after the end of parliament's session.
According to press reports, Japanese prosecutors are investigating suspected fraud against dozens of members of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD, right-wing conservative) led by Mr. Kishida, a political group that has ruled the country almost continuously since 1955.
According to several media outlets, they are suspected of not having declared the equivalent of several million euros that would have been collected through the sale of tickets for fundraising evenings and then paid out to them by the PLD.
“If you sell more (tickets) than the quota allotted to you, it goes into your pocket, it is easy and very valuable,” testified a former employee of a PLD parliamentarian on the ANN television station, who had hidden her face and transformed her Vote to protect your anonymity.
The investigators are particularly interested in members of the largest internal party faction surrounding former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was murdered last year. Its members would have received around 500 million yen (3.2 million euros) over a period of five years until 2022.
“Regaining public trust”.
According to Kyodo News Agency, Mr. Kishida was expected to fire a total of nine ministers and vice ministers, including Interior Minister Junji Suzuki and Agriculture Minister Ichiro Miyashita, but also several PLD leaders, including its political leader Koichi Hagiuda. They all belong to the “Abe faction”.
However, the scandal reportedly also involves members of Mr Kishida's faction, as well as former Olympic minister and former president of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Organizing Committee, Seiko Hashimoto.
Mr. Matsuno on Wednesday refused to comment on the matter, which has been gradually uncovered by the Japanese media for weeks, saying only that the prime minister “will take the necessary measures to regain the public's trust.”
Asked about the allegations regarding his own role, Mr Matsuno assured that he would “take appropriate action” following an internal investigation into his group.
Mr. Kishida himself said on Wednesday that he had asked his group to investigate and, if necessary, change the amounts of money received during fundraising.
The opposition introduced a motion of no confidence against the government in parliament on Wednesday, but it has little chance of passing due to the PLD's overwhelming majority in both chambers.
Before this scandal, Mr. Kishida's popularity rating had already been dented by other points of discontent among Japanese people, including persistent inflation and the fall of the yen, which are weakening household purchasing power, despite his announcement last month of a massive economic stimulus plan.