Japan Press Weekly

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2022 November 16 - 22 [POLITICS]

Third Kishida Cabinet minister to resign within a month

Money-for-politics scandal-tainted Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Terada Minoru on November 20 finally stepped down from his position. With his resignation, the Kishida Cabinet lost three ministers, including the economic revitalization minister and the justice minister, within a month. Prime Minister Kishida should be held responsible for putting these persons into his Cabinet lineup.

Terada was the head of the internal affairs ministry which has jurisdiction over the political funds control law and the public offices election law. However, his scandals, including violations of regulations on political funds and elections, have surfaced one after another. When grilled by opposition parties about these scandals in the Diet, Terada failed to provide any convincing explanations. In the latest opinion poll conducted by Mainichi Shimbun, 70% of respondents said that Terada should resign.

Later on the day, asked by the press for a comment on Terada’s resignation, Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira said, “Although Terada was obviously unqualified to be the internal affairs minister, PM Kishida defended him. Kishida should take his responsibility as prime minister seriously and the Kishida Cabinet should resign en masse.”

Past related articles:
> Justice Minister resigns due to his gaffes over death penalty [November 12, 2022]
> Economic revitalization minister resigns due to his deep ties with Moonies [October 25, 2022]