Opposition takes aim at scandals

Japan's main opposition party said on Tuesday it will pursue Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over a string of Cabinet funding scandals that have dented his popularity ratings, and attacked his signature "Abenomics" economic revival recipe as a failure.

Democratic Party of Japan Secretary-General Yukio Edano also said his party might have further revelations to make, but acknowledged it was too soon to say if the fallout from the serial scandals would prove fatal to Abe's administration.

"I think this is a body blow to the government," Edano said on Tuesday.

"What we intend to reveal is that the (ruling) Liberal Democratic Party has not changed at all," said Edano, who was chief Cabinet secretary at the time of the Fukushima disaster and later headed the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Unlike his first, troubled 2006-07 term, Abe's current administration had been unscathed by scandal since he returned to power in 2012. That changed drastically after he reshuffled his Cabinet last month, opening the door to a slew of leaks about possible political-fund misdeeds.

Two new ministers, including trade and industry minister Yuko Obuchi, resigned last week over the dubious use of funds.

Obuchi's successor, Yoichi Miyazawa, swiftly came under fire for retaining shares in Tokyo Electric Power, the operator of the tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear plant, and for potentially violating a ban on donations from a foreign-owned firm.

The scandals have provided a rare opening for a weak and fragmented opposition, which has been largely sidelined since Abe's conservative LDP trounced the Democrats in 2012. The LDP was plagued by money scandals during much of its reign before being ousted by the DPJ in 2009.

But while Abe's popularity ratings dipped in most opinion polls conducted after the scandals broke, they are still hovering around 50 percent, and Edano said it was too soon to tell if further declines were in store, putting Abe at risk.

Edano said not all the scandal revelations had originated with his party.

When asked if the Democrats had more ammunition in store, he replied: "Of course we have."

Reuters - Xinhua

(China Daily 10/29/2014 page11)