Japan’s PM purges cabinet after support drops over church ties

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reshuffled his cabinet on Wednesday in an apparent attempt to distance his administration from the conservative Unification Church over its ties to slain leader Shinzo Abe and senior members of the ruling party.

The shakeup, the second in just 10 months since Kishida took office, followed his July election victory that was expected to ensure long-term stability through 2025. But Abe’s shocking July 8 assassination and its impact on the Political uncertainty increased as public support for Kishida’s Cabinet sunk.

Kishida said it was important to gain the trust of the people and that the new Cabinet included only those who agreed to strictly review their links with the church and help victims of allegedly fraudulent religious businesses.

“We have to be careful about our relationship with an organization that has known social problems so that they don’t raise suspicion among the public,” Kishida said.

A poll published on Monday by NHK public television showed support for Kishida’s cabinet falling from 59% to 46%.

Most of those surveyed said they believe politicians have not sufficiently explained their ties to the Unification Church. Kishida’s plan to hold a state funeral for Abe has also divided public opinion due to Abe’s ultra-conservative stance on national security and war history.

“The cabinet reshuffle was damage control” to divert public attention from the Unification Church scandal, political analyst Atsuo Ito said on a TBS talk show.

Abe was fatally shot while making a campaign speech two days before parliamentary elections. Police and media reports say the suspect attacked Abe for alleged ties to the Unification Church, which the man hated because his mother’s massive financial donations to the church bankrupted his family.

Abe, in his video message to the affiliated church Universal Peace Foundation, in September 2021, praised his work for peace on the Korean peninsula and his focus on family values. Some experts say Abe’s video appearance may have motivated the suspect.

Ties between the church and Japan’s ruling party go back to Abe’s grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, who served as prime minister and shared US concerns about the spread of communism in Japan in the 1960s.

Since the 1980s, the church has faced accusations of devious recruiting and brainwashing its adherents into making large donations. Critics say the church has contributed votes to carry borderline candidates to electoral victories, while allegedly pushing its opposition to equal rights for women and sexual minorities to be reflected in government policies.

On Wednesday, Tomihiro Tanaka, president of the church, which now calls itself the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, told a news conference that one of his church-related groups, which he called a “peace federation” , is politically more active and involved in electoral campaigns.

But he denied any “political interference” with specific parties and said Kishida’s call for his party members to distance themselves from the church was “regrettable.”

Tanaka said the church and its affiliated groups have naturally developed closer ties with the conservative Liberal Democratic Party than others because of their shared anti-communist stance.

“We have worked together with politicians who have clear views against communism to build a better country,” Tanaka said. “We are carrying out the activity not only in Japan but as part of our global network against communism.”

Kishida denied the “improper influence” of the church on government policies.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, who retained his post, announced the new Cabinet, including five ministers who kept their posts, another five who returned and nine new ones.

Seven ministers who acknowledged their ties to the church were removed. They include Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, Abe’s younger brother, who said church supporters volunteered in his past election campaigns, and Public Safety Commission Chairman Satoshi Ninoyu, who attended a event organized by a church-related organization.

Several newly appointed ministers said they had made donations and had other ties to the church in the past, drawing criticism from opposition leaders.

Top Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Akira Koike said the shakeup failed to cover up ties to the Unification Church. “It only showed the PLD’s deep ties to the church because they can’t form a cabinet if they exclude church-linked lawmakers.”

Kishida said the main goal of the reorganization was “to break one of the biggest post-war crises” such as the coronavirus pandemic, inflation, rising tensions between China and Taiwan, and Russia’s war against Ukraine. He said bolstering Japan’s military capabilities and spending was a top priority.

Kishi was replaced by former defense minister Yasukazu Hamada, and Taro Kono, who previously served as vaccination czar during the pandemic and as foreign and defense minister, returned to the Cabinet as digital minister.

Along with Matsuno, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, Economy Minister Daishiro Yamagiwa, Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito and Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki also retained their posts.

Economy and Trade Minister Koici Hagiuda, who also had ties to the church, was moved to head the party’s policy research committee and replaced by former Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura. Katsunobu Kato was appointed health minister for the third time, in charge of anti-coronavirus measures.

The new cabinet suggested that Kishida task veterans with key portfolios such as diplomacy, defense, economic security and anti-pandemic measures, carefully maintaining a balance of power between the party’s wings to solidify unity amid growing speculation of a war of war. power within Abe’s faction.

Despite criticism that Japanese politics is dominated by older men, the majority of cabinet members remain men over the age of 60, with only two women.

They include Sanae Takaichi, an ultra-conservative close to Abe who was appointed economic security minister, and Keiko Nagaoka, a rookie who became education minister and succeeded Shinsuke Suematsu, who also acknowledged his ties to the Unification Church.

Gender minister Seiko Noda, who admitted to sending a message to a church-related group event in 2001 attended by her assistant, has been succeeded by Masanobu Ogura in her first cabinet post.

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