Obuchi Yuko, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry and one of five women in Abe’s LDP cabinet, is widely expected to resign on October 20 due to the alleged misuse of funds by political organizations she is affiliated with. The allegations were raised by weekly tabloid Shukan Shincho.
Millions of yen were spent by political groups supporting Obuchi in funding her sister’s design business and at her brother-in-law’s clothing shop in 2008, while in 2010 and 2011 her backers are said to have been gifted 26 million yen of theater tickets. Such activities are illegal under Japanese law.
The daughter of a former Prime Minister Obuchi Keizo, Yuko was touted as a future candidate for Prime Minister. But news of the scandal has clearly disappointed many of Obuchi’s supporters, and all but shattered her chances of the premiership.
From Yahoo! Japan:
Obuchi To Resign As Early As October 20 — Prime Minister Abe To Quickly Take Control Of Confusion
Obuchi Yuko, Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry is to take responsibility for dubious handling of funds in a political organization she is connected to, and may submit her resignation to Prime Minister Abe Shinzo as early as October 20.
The Prime Minister has considered the influence this will now have on the proceedings of the Diet and on nuclear policies, which come under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, and intends to take control of the confusion quickly after accepting Obuchi’s resignation. There are voices from the LDP cabinet that the role of Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry now be given to a veteran.
Comments from Yahoo! Japan:
mas*****:
Her defenses were too weak.
She answered to the questions about use of money herself, so she blocked herself off from being able to get out of it by saying she didn’t know anything about it.
Her resignation is inevitable.
I pray that whoever comes after her is someone who has none of these problems.
won*****:
I can’t believe that this person was a future candidate for Prime Minister.
If something happened Japan would be told “I don’t know”.
Aren’t there any decent people out there with a sense of responsibility?
oh_*****:
People were expecting great things of her. But bad is bad.
reg*****:
I guess she didn’t have what it took to be a minister after all?
It’s no exaggeration to say that she got to where she did because of who her parents are.
Even if she resigns, I hope she gives a good explanation. If not, the Japanese people won’t be satisfied.
pie*****:
She’s the bloody minister for the Ministry of Economics, Trade and Industry.
I thought that was crazy.
I mean, I don’t think it’s any good if you have someone who’s sloppy with money.
iri*****:
Bad people are bad, and that’s all there is to it.
If she resigns, will her responsibility just be written off?
I always think this, but seems like things are kept vague and the citizens of Japan don’t know about them
Politician’s resignations just seem like a smokescreen to the people.
pon*****:
I wonder why politicians end up like this?
They start by first of all wanting to make this country better. Then special-interest groups form from groups of supporters.
Is there even one person out of a hundred who are simply supporting them?
Most of them are people who begrudgingly help on the orders of a company.
tkk*****:
Even if politicians do something bad, it’s good that once they resign if they are restored to power then they’re given a clean slate. Usually, if it were a normal person, they’d get arrested if they did something bad. I think it’s crazy that it’s all over if they say “I’ll make things right”, I guess that’s the difference between people who have power and people who don’t.
sha*****:
Ultimately it was a “lie” that they strictly selected the best person for the job.
I wonder who will be responsible if this resignation leads to an increase in resignations like a domino effect.
ris*****:
Not tomorrow — resign now.
god*****:
You know, there are a lot of families where the second generation are no good even if the first generation is amazing.
I feel like I have seen the sad reality.
all*****:
Didn’t she learn all these things at her father’s side when she was his secretary?
In as much as I was rooting for her, the details of this situation are just so poor and make me doubt her credentials. Honestly, I’m disappointed.
