Shigeru Ishiba Faces Secret Fund Allegations Amid “Akahata Cannon” Controversy in the Abe Faction

Shigeru Ishiba faces a flurry of flip-flop criticism as the new Prime Minister.

 

On September 27, he defeated Sanae Takaichi in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election and assumed the prime minister’s seat, but he seems to be struggling with his administration.

“He was originally referred to as the in-house opposition. Now that he is Prime Minister, he has no allies around him and cannot unify the party. As expected, he gives the impression of being used by his patrons, former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama,” said a political reporter from a national newspaper. 

Regarding the timing of the general election, he retracted his previous statements and is now adjusting to dissolve the Diet on October 9 and hold voting on the 27th. However, this too is in line with the intentions of Secretary-General Moriyama and Suga, according to the same national newspaper reporter.

Concerning the My Number health insurance cards, Ishiba hinted at a temporary coexistence with traditional health insurance cards, but Digital Minister Hiroshi Matsushima made it clear that the current issuance of health insurance cards will end in December, stating, “There is no change.”

“Regarding the punishment of lawmakers involved in shady funds, some media reported that they would allow overlapping candidacies with endorsements. Many citizens were likely disheartened by this. Later, Prime Minister Ishiba’s official statement a certain number of non-endorsed candidates will emerge was corrected, but it gave off a flip-flopping impression,” said a source related to a wide show.

According to Prime Minister Ishiba’s explanation, regarding endorsements for single-member districts, he stated that: 1) Those who have received a punishment greater than non-endorsement out of the eight stages defined by the party rules will be non-endorsed. 2) Those who have received lighter punishments but still have ongoing sanctions will be non-endorsed unless they have fulfilled their accountability in the ethics committee. 3) Other lawmakers who have received punishment but have not sufficiently fulfilled their accountability and lack local understanding will also be non-endorsed.

As a result, former Abe faction leaders Hirofumi Shimomura, Yasunori Nishimura, and Takaki Taki, who were suspended from party membership, were not endorsed. Koichi Hagiuda, who did not attend the ethics committee, was also decided to be non-endorsed.

“It seems that they won’t go so far as to set ‘assassins’ in the election districts of non-endorsed candidates, but the former Abe faction feels that they are ‘completely trying to crush us.’ The Liberal Democratic Party is in a state that could be described as internal strife, and depending on the election results, the ‘ousting of Ishiba’ may officially begin,” said a source in the political world.

Prime Minister Ishiba further declared that lawmakers involved in undisclosed political funding parties would not be listed on the proportional representation list. This could turn into an unexpected boomerang.

 

 

On October 6, the Japanese Communist Party’s organ, Shimbun Akahata, published an article titled “Ishiba Faction Also Shadow Funds.” It reported that the political funding party of the Liberal Democratic Party’s Suigetsukai (Ishiba faction), which Ishiba once led, had failed to disclose 1.4 million yen in income and expenses over six years.

 

Election Campaign to Shelve His Own Allegations of Back-Funding

At a press conference in the Diet, Tomoko Tamura, chair of the Japanese Communist Party, condemned Ishiba:

“We, the Japanese Communist Party, have already reported on the shadow funds of the Ishiba faction in Shimbun Akahata. It’s already known that there were shadow funds in the Ishiba faction. Knowing this, he doesn’t say a word in his policy speech. What does accountability mean!”

She continued, stating,

“We will thoroughly engage in debates on these issues in the Diet, but a representative question alone is not enough. How will we address the responsibility for the shadow fund incident? It needs to be discussed in a one-on-one budget committee.”

Prime Minister Ishiba has stated regarding himself and the party’s four key officials, “There will be no overlapping candidacies with proportional representation,” effectively cutting off his escape route. However, if the “shadow fund allegations” turn out to be true, his bold statements may be viewed differently.

“Although Shimbun Akahata is often avoided due to its strong party affiliation, it has been evaluated as ‘not to be underestimated’ in the media industry for many years. If you trace back the origin of the Bunshun bombshells, they sometimes stem from the ‘Akahata bombshells.’ The Communist Party, which may be sidelined from the opposition coalition in the next election, seems poised to put ‘pursuing the Prime Minister’s shadow funds’ at the forefront,” said a reporter from a national newspaper.

While it is unlikely that Prime Minister Ishiba will lose in his electoral district, running a campaign while sidelining his own “shadow fund allegations” could entangle him in various motivations, leaving lingering issues.

How the public will judge Prime Minister Ishiba, who has taken this all-or-nothing gamble, remains to be seen.