Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday announced plans to replace some of his Cabinet ministers to address public criticism and distrust over his governing party’s widening slush funds scandal that has shaken his grip on power.
The scandal mostly involves the Liberal Democratic Party’s largest and most powerful faction formerly led by assassinated ex-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Its key members, including those in top Cabinet and party posts, were suspected of systematically failing to report several hundred million yen (several million dollars) in funds in possible violation of campaign and election laws, media reports say. The money is alleged to have gone into unmonitored slush funds.
