The Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida intends to sack its internal minister Minoru Terada on Sunday (November 20), Yomiuri newspaper reported. The internal minister sets out to be the third minister leaving the Kishida administration within a month. Recently, on October 24, the economic revitalisation minister Daishiro Yamagiwa resigned.
The prime minister took the decision a day prior following the mounting pressure within his party to limit the effect of the impending parliamentary session on the second additional budget of the fiscal year.
The Japanese media outlet Yomiuri stated that the prime minister will discuss further with aides on Sunday before the budget discussions. During the press conference, he said that he would make a decision on the internal minister adding that the cabinet minister must fulfil their duties, Reuters reported.
Terada has come under fire for a number of funding scandals and has admitted that one of his support groups submitted a funding document that was purportedly signed by a deceased person. This led to a call for his resignation.
His exit might weaken Kishida, whose support had stayed around 30 per cent as per a few surveys and could make it challenging for the prime minister to carry forward his objectives.
Following the triumph of his ruling party LDP in July, Kishida was expected to have a three-year golden period until the next elections in 2025. However, after the murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, it exposed close and long-standing links between LDP members and the unification church, and the prime minister’s reputation suffered.
The murderer further claimed that the church had driven his mother into bankruptcy and blamed Abe for this. However, the LDP members said that there had been no organisational connections between the party and the group.
Further, the decision Kishida took for a state burial for Abe, led to huge criticism. The economic minister also reigned over his links with the group.
The prime minister has been under great pressure from the citizens for not only his links with the church but also for handling the situation carefully.
(With inputs from agencies)
