Japan PM Shinzo Abe and finance minister face mounting pressure over doctored documents in school scandal
Scandal over the cut-price sale of government-owned land to a close friend of Shinzo Abe has dogged prime minister since it first emerged last February, though he has consistently denied any wrongdoing
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ally, Finance Minister Taro Aso, face mounting pressure over a suspected cronyism scandal as the finance ministry prepares to report on Monday that documents in the case were doctored.
Abe, now in his sixth year in office, had hoped to put the issue of the sale of state-owned land at a huge discount to a school operator with ties to his wife, Akie, behind him.
But it has gathered steam with a series of fresh revelations.
“If this is true, isn’t political responsibility unavoidable?” Akira Nagatsuma, a senior lawmaker in the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, said Sunday.
Abe has repeatedly denied he or his wife did favours for school operator Moritomo Gakuen, which bought the land, and has said he would resign if evidence were found that they had. The issue last year sharply eroded Abe’s popularity.
Former Moritomo Gakuen head Yasunori Kagoike and his wife were arrested in July on suspicion of illegally receiving subsidies.
If Aso were forced out, it would be a critical blow to the prime minister
On Friday, National Tax Agency chief Nobuhisa Sagawa abruptly resigned over his remarks in parliament about the case.
The Mainichi Shimbun reported that it was “likely that the documents had been altered to be coherent with” the speech made in parliament by Sagawa.
“It is possible that Sagawa instructed the alterations,” the newspaper said, citing government sources.
“If Minister Aso signed off on National Tax Agency chief Sagawa’s resignation knowing about the falsified documents, moves seeking his resignation are inevitable,” Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, said.
Suspicions of an attempted cover-up could slash Abe’s ratings and dash his hopes of a third term as ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader.
Victory in the LDP September leadership vote would put him on track to become Japan’s longest-serving premier.
“If Aso were forced out, it would be a critical blow to the prime minister, reinforcing the impression of a cover-up and depriving Abe of a key ally who has served as finance minister since December 2012,” wrote Tobias Harris, vice-president of consultancy Teneo Intelligence in an email report.
Sagawa headed the ministry division that submitted the documents before he was tapped as tax agency chief in July, an appointment critics saw as a reward for his efforts to diffuse the issue with his statements to parliament last year.
Aso and Abe have both defended the appointment as “appropriate” and Aso has said he would not resign.
“If these documents were falsified, the entire cabinet should resign,” tweeted Mizuho Fukushima, a lawmaker with the tiny opposition Social Democratic Party.
Abe, 63, swept back to power in December 2012 promising to revive the economy and bolster its defence.
It was a rare comeback for the conservative lawmaker, who quit abruptly in 2007 after a year in office marked by scandals in his cabinet, a deadlocked parliament and ill health.
His ruling bloc won a two-thirds “super majority” in an October lower house poll, helped by opposition disarray.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
