Scandal clouds loom over Japan trade minister

Obuchi to investigate reports about supporters' misuse of political funds

In a blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan's new trade and industry minister was expected to resign over allegations that groups that had backed her misused political funds, according to Japanese media.

Yuko Obuchi, the 40-year-old daughter of the late prime minister Keizo Obuchi, plans to report on her investigation of the questionable funding on Monday and then submit her resignation to Abe, the Nikkei and Sankei Shimbun newspapers said on Sunday.

But the Sankei said Abe's team was considering having Obuchi make her report to the prime minister on Sunday, not waiting for a parliamentary committee meeting on Monday.

Abe appointed Obuchi, a telegenic mother of two, less than two months ago to head the powerful Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. She was one of five women Abe chose in a Cabinet reshuffle in a bid to bolster his popularity by showing his commitment to promoting women.

A spokesman for the ministry said he was unaware of any plans by Obuchi to quit.

Regarded as a contender to become Japan's first female prime minister, Obuchi apologized during a parliamentary grilling on Thursday over media reports of the misuse of funds, which could violate electoral and political funding laws.

"I feel that ignorance is no excuse," Obuchi said on Friday. On Saturday, she avoided saying if she would quit, telling reporters her first priority was to investigate the issue.

The Nikkei and Kyodo News reported that Obuchi had told people close to Abe she planned to resign to take responsibility for the furor. The Jiji newswire said her resignation was inevitable.

The departure would be the first Cabinet resignation for Abe, who took office in December 2012. His previous stint as prime minister in 2006-07 was marked by scandals among his ministers, several of whom were forced to resign and one who committed suicide.

The Obuchi scandal comes as Abe faces a decision whether to proceed with a planned but unpopular increase in the sales tax, after a tax hike in April pushed the world's third-largest economy into its deepest quarterly slump since the 2008 global financial crisis.

Support for Abe has begun to sag a little. A survey at the weekend by Kyodo news agency showed his popularity fell by 6.8 points to 48.1 percent from a survey in September. The scandal around Obuchi may have affected the rating, Kyodo said.

"The minister is now investigating and will make a report at the start of the week, so I think she will make an appropriate explanation," Tomomi Inada, policy chief of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party, said on Sunday.

"I think she will fulfill her responsibility to make a proper explanation to restore the people's trust in politics," Inada said during a debate program, when asked about the possibility of Obuchi resigning.

Reports of funding irregularities emerged on Thursday. On Saturday, public broadcaster NHK said two Obuchi political groups spent 43 million yen ($402,000) on annual theater events from 2009 to 2011 and kept no record of spending on the 2012 event.

Another political funds group bought 3.8 million yen of goods from businesses run by her sister and brother-in-law in the four years through 2012, NHK said.

Obuchi told parliament she believed her supporters had paid for the theater events themselves but was aware it would be a legal violation if her political groups made more payments.

After her appointment, Obuchi was given the tough task of trying to gain public trust for the government's unpopular policy of restarting nuclear reactors idled after the 2011 Fukushima atomic disaster.

(China Daily 10/20/2014 page11)