Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced Monday the appointment of former Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto as the new head of the Interior Ministry, replacing Minoru Terada, who has resigned over a bribery scandal.
Matsumoto, 63, also a deputy of the Prime Minister’s Liberal Democratic Party, was selected by Kishida «for his extensive experience in areas such as taxation and telecommunications,» the head of government said, as reported by the Kyodo news agency.
For his part, Matsumoto — foreign minister in 2011 — has assured reporters that he will make efforts to «win the people’s trust».
«The Interior Ministry has jurisdiction over very important systems that are the foundation of the country and the basis of people’s lives, and it is a great responsibility, I would like to work hard and fulfill my mandate,» he said.
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) National Affairs Committee Chairman Tsuyoshi Takagi has viewed Matsumoto’s election positively, «I think he is a very talented person, so I have high expectations.» He also called it «unfortunate and regrettable» that the third minister resigned in recent weeks.
Terada’s resignation on Sunday became the third resignation of a Kishida government official in less than four weeks.
‘Shukan Bunshun’ magazine reported that Terada paid around 40,000 yen (280 euros) as a reward to six local assembly members in his constituency in Hiroshima prefecture for their support in his election campaign in October last year. Such payments are prohibited by the election law for public office.
Last October 24, the Minister of Economic Revitalization, Daishiro Yamagiwa, resigned over his ties with the Unification Church, now a target of criticism after the assassin of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe denounced relations between the organization and Japanese politicians.
More recently, Kishida dismissed then Justice Minister Yasuhiro Hanashi on November 11 after frivolous comments on the death penalty.
Approval of the Japanese prime minister’s government is at rock bottom with only 33 percent approval, according to the latest survey by Japanese public television NHK, the lowest since he was elected prime minister in October 2021.
It is the fourth consecutive month of falling approval for Kishida’s cabinet and the 33 percent figure is down 5 points from the previous month. In contrast, the rate of disapproval of the Kishida government’s work has risen three points to 46 percent.
