Financial scandal in Japan – Donations scandal shakes the Japanese government – News

What happened? In Japan, four ministers in the current government resigned: Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, Agriculture Minister Ichiro Miyashita, and Interior Minister Junji Suzuki. Japanese news agency Kyodo reported that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will reshuffle his cabinet. The reason for the resignations is the investigations conducted by the Japanese Attorney General’s Office. According to reports in Japanese media, it is investigating several members of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) over allegations of not properly declaring income from fundraising events. The money is said to have flowed into clay funds.

What does the law allow in Japan regarding donations? Japan’s current Political Donations Control Law prohibits donations to politicians. But there is a loophole: Political organizations are allowed to make money from selling tickets to fundraising events and distributing them to politicians. However, they must report the funds as political donations. Now – according to the accusation – not all income was declared by political groups, and individual politicians put the undeclared money into their own pockets.

How much money is involved? An amount of 500 million yen, equivalent to 3.0171 million francs. According to media reports, this money has gone to dozens of politicians over the past five years.

What makes the scandal so far-reaching? “Practically all members of the ruling party, which has led Japan for more than 50 years, are suspected of receiving such payments and do not officially record them,” explains Martin Fritz, a freelance journalist in Tokyo. It is suspected that this will undermine voters’ confidence in the party.

What does Abe’s faction have to do with it? The attorney general’s investigation is focusing on the largest conservative power group within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. This group of forces was once led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot during a campaign speech in 2022. Cabinet Secretary Matsuno and the other three ministers affected by the reshuffle are also members of this group. Kyodo reported that five deputy ministers and a parliamentary deputy minister left their positions.

How secure is Fumio Kishida in his position as Prime Minister? Independent journalist Fritz assesses the situation as follows: “In normal circumstances, the party would have pulled the rug out from under it a long time ago, because it received the worst ratings for an LDP prime minister in more than ten years.” But Kishida is lucky because the next elections won’t be held until 2025, so he just has to be able to stay in office.