Current:Home > InvestJapan’s leader grilled in parliament over widening fundraising scandal, link to Unification Church-InfoLens
Japan’s leader grilled in parliament over widening fundraising scandal, link to Unification Church
View Date:2024-12-23 17:10:44
TOKYO (AP) — 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.”
Kishida also said he will step down as head of his own party faction while serving as prime minister to show his determination to tackle the problems.
Kishida was bombarded with questions from senior opposition lawmakers about the scandals during Friday’s parliamentary hearing.
He separately faces allegations related to a 2019 meeting with former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who visited him with top officials from the Unification Church, a South Korea-based religious group that the government is seeking to dissolve over abusive recruiting and fundraising tactics that surfaced during an investigation of Abe’s assassination last year.
The investigation also led to revelations of years of cozy ties between the governing party and the Unification Church.
Kishida said he was asked to meet with Gingrich as a former foreign minister and that he did not remember the other guests. Photographs in Japanese media show him exchanging business cards with Unification Church officials.
“I don’t see any problem with that,” Kishida said. “If there were church-related people in the group, that does not mean I had ties with the Unification Church.”
Yukio Edano, a lawmaker for the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, accused Kishida of lax oversight and of attempting to distance himself from the fundraising scandal by withdrawing from leadership of his faction.
Media reports say Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno allegedly diverted more than 10 million yen ($69,000) over the past five years from money he raised from party events to a slush fund. Matsuno was a top official in the Abe faction from 2019 to 2021 and is the first key minister implicated in the scandal by name.
Matsuno brushed off repeated questions from reporters and opposition lawmakers about the allegation, saying he cannot comment now because the case is under investigation by the authorities and his faction is reexamining its accounts.
NHK public television reported Friday that two other members of the Abe faction also allegedly received 10 million yen ($69,000) in unreported funds.
veryGood! (5)
Related
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Something Corporate
- Ex-Oregon prison nurse convicted of sexually assaulting female inmates gets 30 years in prison
- What could convince Egypt to take in Gaza's refugees?
- 300-year-old painting stolen by an American soldier during World War II returned to German museum
- Japan to resume V-22 flights after inquiry finds pilot error caused accident
- Perfect no more, Rangers suddenly face ALCS test: 'Nobody said it was gonna be easy'
- Ali Krieger Shares “Happy Place” Photo With Her and Ashlyn Harris’ Kids Amid Divorce
- Michael Penix headlines the USA TODAY Sports midseason college football All-America team
- Steelers shoot for the moon ball, but will offense hold up or wilt in brutal final stretch?
- West Virginia official accused of approving $34M in COVID-19 payments without verifying them
Ranking
- Let Demi Moore’s Iconic Fashion Give You More Inspiration
- Reporter wins support after Nebraska governor dismissed story because the journalist is Chinese
- Peru imposes harsh penalties for stealing cellphones, including life in prison
- Abreu, Alvarez and Altuve help Astros pull even in ALCS with 10-3 win over Rangers in Game 4
- More than 150 pronghorns hit, killed on Colorado roads as animals sought shelter from snow
- 300-year-old painting stolen by an American soldier during World War II returned to German museum
- Martin Scorsese on new movie ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’: ‘Maybe we’re all capable of this’
- Hollywood’s actors strike is nearing its 100th day. Why hasn’t a deal been reached and what’s next?
Recommendation
-
Nearly 80,000 pounds of Costco butter recalled for missing 'Contains Milk statement': FDA
-
Slovenia to introduce border checks with Hungary, Croatia after Italy did the same with Slovenia
-
In big year for labor, California Gov. Gavin Newsom delivers both wins and surprises
-
Biden to ask Congress in Oval Office address for funding including aid for Israel and Ukraine
-
'Wanted' posters plastered around University of Rochester target Jewish faculty members
-
New Mexico county official could face a recall over Spanish conquistador statue controversy
-
Alex Ovechkin, Connor Hellebuyck, Seattle Kraken among NHL's slow starters this season
-
Northern Europe braces for gale-force winds, floods