Only 1 1/2 months after the reshuffled cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe began work, two female cabinet members resigned from their posts over politics-and-money scandals. It is a serious blow to the Abe administration.

The prime minister must lose no time in getting the cabinet back on its feet and tackling the management of national politics.

At a Monday press conference, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yuko Obuchi said: “No delay must be permitted in carrying out economic and energy policies. I’ll resign as a cabinet member and investigate the matter under suspicion.” According to Obuchi, she will leave the investigation to a third-party group including lawyers.

As far as it has been revealed, political funds reports from political organizations related to Obuchi showed that spending related to theater outings organized for her supporters over four years was about 42 million yen more than the revenue. If the political organizations covered the gap, that could violate the Public Offices Election Law.

Obuchi explained that the political organizations collected money from each participant as expenses for a theater outing, denying the suspicion that the Public Offices Election Law had been violated. However, even if her explanation is true, there is a possibility that the Political Funds Control Law was violated by recording smaller revenues than were actually earned, or by not recording the revenues in the political funds reports.

Obuchi’s responsibility is extremely grave as she entrusted the management of political funds entirely to those in charge of accounting and other people and continued to submit such sloppy reports.

In connection with purchases of local specialty leeks and baby goods by her political fund management organization, she explained that she makes a clear distinction between her private life and official duties. But she is required to make more in-depth explanations.

She should not be allowed to use her resignation to draw a curtain on the problem. It should be discussed that she will give an explanation of the matter such as at the House of Representatives’ Deliberative Council on Political Ethics.

Obuchi has been elected to the lower house five times, and this was the second time for her to become a cabinet member. She had been seen as a likely candidate to become the first female prime minister in the country. She has enjoyed favorable circumstances as the second daughter of a former prime minister. Should she have conducted herself in a more disciplined manner?

Depending on the investigation from now on, Obuchi may face a more crucial phase.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Midori Matsushima is suspected of violating the Public Offices Election Law for distributing uchiwa fans to people in her constituency at local events. The major opposition Democratic Party of Japan has filed a criminal complaint against her with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office.

As a reason for her resignation, Matsushima said her words and actions had hindered national politics. But she emphasized that she did not think that the action of distributing the fans constituted a donation that would violate the Public Offices Election Law. It is necessary to clarify whether her action is illegal.

Prime Minister Abe said, “I’m the one who appointed them and the blame must fall on me in that respect,” and apologized to the public. The ministerial appointment of a record five female members is aimed at making them a symbol of Abe’s pledge to transform the nation into a society in which women can play prominent roles in various fields. It can be said that investigations into their past careers and personal lives before their appointment as ministers must have been sloppy.

Yoichi Miyazawa, deputy chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party’s Policy Research Council, will replace Obuchi, while Yoko Kamikawa, former state minister in charge of the declining birthrate, will succeed Matsushima.

Opposition parties will strengthen their criticism against the administration at the Diet session. The prime minister and all the other cabinet members should put top priority on implementing policies and devote themselves to their duties with a sense of tension.

(Editorial, The Yomiuri Shimbun)

(Asia News Network)