TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and several key Cabinet ministers were grilled by opposition lawmakers in parliament on Friday over a widening fundraising scandal and an alleged connection to the Unification Church which threaten to further drag down the government's sagging popularity.
Support ratings for Kishida's government have fallen below 30% because of public dissatisfaction over its slow response to rising prices and lagging salaries, and the scandal could weaken his grip on power within the governing Liberal Democratic Party. Still, the long-ruling party remains the voter favorite in media polls because of the fragmented and weak opposition.
Dozens of governing party lawmakers, including Cabinet members, are accused of failing to fully report money they received from fundraising. Kishida has acknowledged that authorities are investigating the scandal following a criminal complaint.
The party's largest and most powerful faction, linked to late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is suspected of failing to report more than 100 million yen ($690,000) in funds in a possible violation of campaign and election laws, according to media reports. The money is alleged to have gone into unmonitored slush funds.
Kishida has instructed party members to temporarily halt fundraising parties. “It's a first step,” he said Friday. “We will thoroughly grasp the problems and the cause and will take steps to regain public trust.” ...continue reading
