Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s “ability to listen” backfired…he was pushed aside on the Unification Church & state funeral issue

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been getting his way by fully demonstrating his “power to listen.

On September 8, the LDP released the results of an “inspection” of the relationship between the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church) and the party’s Diet members. Of the 379 LDP Diet members in the lower house and upper house, 179 members had contacts, however shady. Of these, 121 had attended meetings, exchanged funds, or provided support for elections, and their names were made public.

Secretary General Toshimitsu Mogi said at the press conference

The majority of the councilors, even those who attended the meetings and gave speeches, said they were not aware at the time that they were affiliated with the former Unification Church,” he explained.

However, Jun Azumi, chairman of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan’s National Diet Committee, said, “I don’t want to make the public feel that we are doing this.

However, Jun Azumi, chairman of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan’s National Opposition Committee, dismissed this as “nothing more than a publicity stunt, and I have to conclude that it is not the truth.

The public also expressed their disapproval of the group’s actions. The public also demanded

The public also demanded that the names of all the members be made public.
The results are inadequate.

The results are inadequate.

Prime Minister Kishida had initially planned to announce the names of all Diet members with whom he had contact, regardless of the degree of their involvement, and to disclose the number of people involved in the case of matters that were closely related to him. According to a source in the political world

According to a source in the political world, “Since the former Unification Church issue came out, the Cabinet’s approval rating has been on a steady decline. Even though there will be no elections for the next three years, Prime Minister Kishida has expressed a sense of crisis.

We cannot move forward without clearing up the relationship with the former Unification Church in a way that satisfies the public. Prime Minister Kishida also has contacts with the church, but he wanted to close the chapter by publicly announcing his own name and apologizing.

He was said to have thought of closing the case after apologizing for his actions. However, it was Secretary-General Mogi who vehemently opposed this idea. According to Jiji Press, Mogi and others insisted that the publication of the names of the Diet members should be limited to the dozens or so who were closely involved. Prime Minister Kishida said

Prime Minister Kishida insisted, “If we withhold the names of even a few members of the Diet, we will not be able to gain the public’s understanding.

However, Mogi and others eventually pushed him into releasing the names of the 121 members of the Diet, and the report said that the issue was settled in an “irresolute” manner.

The report states, “Prime Minister Kishida’s ‘listening skills’ were so shaky that he was easily persuaded into listening to them. The results of the survey have, as expected, been met with a backlash from the public. The survey did not include House of Representatives Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda, who attended a meeting related to the cult, because he is a member of a breakaway faction, and it did not include former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who passed away, or local lawmakers. Rather than pulling back the curtain, the allegations have deepened.

Prime Minister Kishida’s “listening skills” were also on display at former Prime Minister Abe’s funeral.

While public opinion polls showed that opposition to the funeral outnumbered support for it, Kishida was unable to lower his raised fist. In fact, Prime Minister Kishida had initially sought a “joint funeral” of his cabinet and the LDP, rather than a state funeral.

Deputy Governor Taro Aso, a close ally of former Prime Minister Abe, put a “wait-and-see” spin on the plan. He called Prime Minister Kishida three times and finally said

This is not a matter of logic!

he said. Immediately afterward, Prime Minister Kishida decided to hold a state funeral.

Again, Mr. Aso pushed him away. Prime Minister Kishida has been ridiculed as a “deliberator” because of his frequent use of the phrase “under consideration,” but he has no conviction of his own. Even if he did, he is easily swayed by the power of “listening. A series of events may have made many people feel that he is unreliable as the prime minister of a country.

According to the results of the aforementioned survey, among the Diet members whose names were withheld because they were deemed to have little involvement with the prime minister, a big-name Diet member who has never been reported on before is apparently counted. The media is moving quickly, and it is only a matter of time before it becomes public knowledge.

Prime Minister Kishida will be faced with a new challenge…