Can Japan PM Kishida survive kickbacks scandal as rivals begin ‘moving against him’?
- While analysts say Prime Minister Fumio Kishida can survive until October 2025, his support is falling amid ‘great turmoil’ within the ruling LDP and growing public anger
- Independent politicians Shigeru Ishida and Seiko Noda have emerged as candidates who could replace Kishida in a leadership challenge
With Prime Minister Fumio Kishida struggling to limit the fallout from the snowballing kickbacks scandal that has engulfed Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), his rivals are sharpening their knives and looking to make the most of the political opportunity they have been gifted.
“Kishida can theoretically survive because he does not have to face a general election until as late as October 2025, but it is hard to predict what might happen if his support rate continues to fall,” said Yoichi Shimada, a professor of politics and international relations at Fukui Prefectural University.
“It is clear that some in the party are already moving against him,” he told This Week in Asia.
Kishida is reeling as yet more reports emerge in the media of LDP politicians failing to report income and expenditures from fundraising parties organised by the party’s factions, including the powerful conservative wing of the party that used to be headed by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Suspicion of financial mismanagement has spread throughout the LDP, including to Kishida’s own faction, and the firing of five members of the cabinet late last week has failed to stem the growing public anger at elected members of the Diet simply pocketing millions of yen.
The conservative Yomiuri newspaper condemned the party that it generally supports in an editorial on Thursday headlined “Personnel reshuffle not sufficient to dispel distrust over allegations”. The left-leaning Mainichi went further by stating “the Kishida government is unfit to handle state affairs amid growing money scandal” the same day.
The public appears to agree. A Jiji News poll on December 14 put the prime minister’s support rate at a paltry 17.1 per cent while a Kyodo News survey put it at a barely improved 22.3 per cent on Sunday.
