Japan Press Weekly

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2007 August 29 - September 4 [SCANDAL]

Agriculture minister’s resignation illustrates collapse of Abe’s scheme to enlist public support with cabinet reshuffle

In the wake of the ruling parties’ historic defeat, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo intended to regain public trust in his government by means of a cabinet reshuffle, but his scheme has turned out to be a complete failure in only eight days since the reshuffle.

In the face of severe criticism of political corruption, personal integrity became an important factor for the prime minister to take into account in appointing cabinet ministers. Despite this, scandals involving new ministers and a parliamentary secretary have been exposed one after another since the reshuffle.

As a result, Endo became the third agriculture minister to have stepped down in three months. He is also the fourth Abe cabinet minister to have resigned over corruption scandals. Worse still, Endo is allegedly responsible for criminal liability in embezzling state subsidies.

The cabinet reshuffle that even ruling party members regard as Abe’s last chance is increasing public distrust again. This fact clearly illustrates that Prime Minister Abe lacks the ability necessary to lead the government.

No reflection

“If a cabinet minister suspected of being involved in scandals cannot be cleared convincingly, he or she must leave the cabinet,” the prime minister said immediately after the cabinet reshuffle.

Abe, however, completely failed to take any initiatives to probe allegations against Endo or solve the problem such as instructing him to explain himself between September 1 when the suspicion came to light and September 2 when Endo decided to resign.

Instead, Abe fully entrusted the matter to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yosano Kaoru.

As the Japanese Communist Party and other opposition parties declared their intention to submit to the House of Councilors a motion to censure Agriculture Minister Endo, Yosano made the judgment that as long as Endo holds the post, the government will face enormous difficulties in the Diet. He made this decision out of concern over Diet proceedings without fundamentally reflecting on the problem.

Although Prime Minister Abe on September 3 said he accepts his responsibility for appointing Endo, Abe is still clinging to power, saying, “I will make every effort to advance the agricultural administration. It is important for individual politicians to brace themselves for scrutiny.”

Abe’s position goes against public opinion. What’s worse, Abe remains in power without fulfilling his minimal responsibility for his appointees’ misconduct. The prime minister indeed bears grave responsibility.

Public opinion showing power

It must be noted that the public opinion seeking a change in politics has forced Endo to resign.

Former Agriculture Minister Matsuoka Toshikatsu took a so-what attitude towards criticism of his office expenses scandal before he killed himself. Akagi Norihiko, Matsuoka’s successor, took the same attitude even after the devastating setback in the election. In contrast, Endo resigned only two days after the revelation of his scandal.

The Chief Cabinet Secretary as well as ministers and the parliamentary secretary hastily held press conferences over the weekend. Such an unusual situation arose because the public has come to demand that the government be held accountable.

At the same time, the fact that the reshuffled cabinet is embroiled in scandals shows that corruption is a structural problem of the LDP. Whoever LDP members may become cabinet ministers, there is no guarantee that they can avoid involvement in scandals. - Akahata, September 4, 2007