Japan’s Reconstruction Minister Kenya Akiba handed in his resignation this Tuesday, which has already been accepted by the Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, whose executive branch lost four members over the past two months due to several scandals.
Akiba, who took office in August, has been embroiled in allegations of violating electoral law and misappropriating government funds, and according to some local newspapers, he may have paid about 200,000 yen ($1,400) in aid for his candidacy for the state legislature. year passed.
The minister admitted that two political groups paid about 14 million yen (about $100,000) in renting offices to the woman and her mother between 2011 and 2020, allegedly not reported by her mother.
Finally, Akiba, who denied ties to the controversial Unification Church, acknowledged that a branch of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), to which he belongs, made a donation of about 48,000 yen ($340) to the religious group.
That church has been in the spotlight in Japan since the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the summer, with the well-known killer claiming to have committed the crime to expose the Japanese government’s concessions to the cult.
To succeed Akiba, Kishida appointed Hiromichi Watanabe, returning to the position he held between 2018 and 2019. This portfolio works on reconstruction and relief efforts in areas affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
In addition to Akiba, Mio Sugita, Deputy Minister of the Interior and Communications, also resigned after criticizing recent comments and behavior against the ‘gay community’.
Despite leading the party to victory in the July legislature, Kishida’s popularity was severely tarnished by links between the LDP and the Unification Church, which were exposed after Abe’s assassination.
On October 24, Economic Revitalization Minister Daishiro Yamagiwa resigned over criticism of his relations with the religious group, also known as the “Sect of the Moon”.
More recently, on November 11, Kishida fired Justice Minister Yasuhiro Hanashi, as well as Minoru Terada, who held the Ministry of Interior.
Source: DN
