Tokyo
\nPrime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday sacked four influential cabinet members in a bid to save his premiership from Japan\u2019s biggest political funding scandal in more than three decades.
\nThe purge by the increasingly unpopular PM is aimed at shielding him from the effects of a widening slush funds investigation that has involved a large number of politicians from the governing Liberal Democratic party.
\nAnalysts said the gambit, which could dramatically alter LDP power balances that shaped post-war politics, might succeed if Kishida is able to revamp his image by embarking on bold political reform. But if he fails to win over the public, he could quickly turn into a lame-duck premier and risk having to step down before his term as LDP leader expires in September.
\nAmong the ousted ministers were chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, the government\u2019s top spokesperson, and trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura. Kishida also replaced a broad range of vice-ministers and the LDP\u2019s policy chief.
\nFor the chief cabinet secretary post, Kishida turned to former foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, who belongs to an LDP faction previously led by the prime minister. He replaced his trade minister with former justice minister Ken Sait\u014d.
\nThere is no political stability without the trust of the people,\u201d Kishida said on Wednesday as he promised to carry out reform with \u201ca sense of crisis\u201d.
\n\u201cI will take the lead and fight to overhaul the workings of the Liberal Democratic party to restore trust in politics,\u201d he added.
\nProsecutors are investigating allegations that LDP politicians, mostly members of the powerful faction formerly headed by late prime minister Shinzo Abe, systematically failed to report roughly \u00a5500mn ($3.4mn) in political funding over a period of five years, Japanese media reported.
\nSome analysts said the practice of concealing political funds was more than two decades old and used to support weaker members of the Abe faction. Other factions appear to be affected, with media reports saying members of the faction formerly led by Kishida also failed to report some political funds, though prosecutors do not see it as systematic.
\nAnalysts warned that the purge of ministers and other senior party officials belonging to the LDP\u2019s biggest faction was a double-edged sword. The removal could concentrate power under Kishida but might also destabilise an administration that has relied heavily on the Abe faction\u2019s backing.
\nAbe was the country\u2019s longest-serving prime minister and shaped Japanese foreign and defence policies over the past decade. But his abrupt assassination last summer left his 99-member faction leaderless and struggling to exert the kind of influence displayed during the Abe era.
\nThe funding scandal has contributed to a decline in Kishida\u2019s popularity, which was already low due to public dissatisfaction with higher living costs and concerns the prime minister will raise taxes to fund planned increases in defence and childcare spending.
\nPublic approval for Kishida\u2019s administration has plummeted to 23 per cent, the lowest for any prime minister since 2012, according to a poll conducted by public broadcaster NHK last weekend.
\nWhile disgruntled members of the Abe faction could seek to undermine Kishida, Takao Toshikawa, editor-in-chief of political newsletter Insideline, said the funding scandal could work in the prime minister\u2019s favour since the LDP would come under fire from the public if it openly engaged in factional infighting.
\n\u201cA lot of people say Prime Minister Kishida is entering the closing days of his administration, but I actually think he will hold out,\u201d Toshikawa said.
\nHe noted one scenario would be for Kishida to call a snap election in March, with a campaign pledge to end the LDP\u2019s factional politics. If he fails to revive his popularity, he and his cabinet may be forced to resign en masse after passing the budget at the end of the fiscal year in March.
\nThe influence of LDP factions has waned since the mid-2000s as power has been consolidated under the prime minister\u2019s office. Electoral reforms in the mid-1990s also reduced the role factions play in campaign finance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tokyo Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday sacked four influential cabinet members in a bid to save his premiership from Japan\u2019s biggest political funding scandal in more than three decades. The purge by the increasingly unpopular PM is aimed at shielding him from the effects of a widening slush funds investigation that has involved a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374574,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-374548","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n