Tokyo, Oct. 14 (Jiji Press)–Embattled Japanese agriculture minister Kazuo Yana submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in a meeting at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo on Wednesday. Takaichi later told reporters that she accepted the minister’s resignation and takes seriously her responsibility for appointing him. This is the first scandal-related resignation by a cabinet member since the Takaichi administration was launched in October last year. The move, which comes less than a month after she reshuffled her cabinet Sept. 17, is certain to deal a serious blow to the prime minister. Opposition parties are expected to grill Takaichi over her responsibility for appointing Yana to the ministerial post. Yana told reporters after his meeting with Takaichi that he decided to step down from his ministerial post because he “should not hinder parliamentary deliberations any further.” Earlier Wednesday, the parliamentary affairs chiefs of 10 opposition parties and groups in the Senate, the upper chamber, including the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Democratic Party for the People, had agreed to submit a censure motion against Yana if he did not resign. The motion had a possibility of being passed as the ruling camp, led by Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party, lacks a majority in the Upper House. It has been learned that Yana’s camp provided supporters with free shuttle bus transportation during the campaign period for the House of Representatives election in February, in a possible violation of the public offices election law. He has also been slammed for suggesting that road-related budgets had been cut in municipalities whose mayors did not support him in the Feb. 8 Lower House poll. The Bunshun Online news website reported Wednesday that Yana had paid campaign workers during the October 2024 Lower House election possibly in violation of the election law. Takaichi received an explanation on the free bus issue from Yana over the phone on Tuesday night. At Wednesday’s Lower House Budget Committee meeting, Takaichi said she cannot say at the moment whether the practice violated the election law while urging Yana to fulfill his accountability. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
