Shinzo Abe seeks to move on from cabinet scandals but foes scent blood
PM aims to move on quickly from ministers' resignations but opponents, press will milk scandals
Shinzo Abe's swift replacement of two scandal-hit cabinet ministers this week shows the Japanese prime minister wants to move on quickly, even as a newly energised opposition scents blood.
While Yuko Obuchi and Midori Matsushima stepped down on Monday, questions have been raised about three other cabinet members.
Defence Minister Akinori Eto, Agriculture Minister Koya Nishikawa and Health Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki have already publicly faced questions over alleged influence peddling, improper donations or problems in reporting political funds. All three have denied wrongdoing.
But the opposition, routed by Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the last national elections, is unlikely to let the matter drop. "They see this as an opportunity to turn things around," said a former opposition Democratic Party lawmaker who did not want to be identified.
Domestic media are also reminding readers that Abe's first 2006-2007 term as premier was plagued by serial resignations that eroded his support, ending when he quit abruptly in the face of parliamentary deadlock and ill-health - although experts are not at present predicting a replay of that scenario.
Hours after Obuchi and Matsushima resigned, Abe appointed a former bureaucrat as his new trade and industry minister and a long-standing supporter as the head of the Ministry of Justice. Both Yoichi Miyazawa and Yoko Kamikawa are considered political conservatives, are members of Shinto organisations, have close links with business, are opponents of Tokyo ceding too much in the debate over the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal and are likely to vigorously support the prime minister in his political agenda. Interestingly, both are also apparently keen to improve Japan's ties with China and South Korea.
The prime minister's alacrity in naming Miyazawa, 64, to take over the trade portfolio and 61-year-old Kamikawa as the justice minister suggests the decisions were made over the weekend.