TOKYO • Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso is preparing to skip a Group of 20 (G-20) finance leaders’ gathering in Buenos Aires next week, officials said yesterday, with the minister fighting to survive a cronyism scandal that has paralysed the country’s Parliament..
TOKYO • Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso is preparing to skip a Group of 20 (G-20) finance leaders’ gathering in Buenos Aires next week, officials said yesterday, with the minister fighting to survive a cronyism scandal that has paralysed the country’s Parliament.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Mr Aso — his close ally — are under pressure over the Finance Ministry’s admission on Monday that it had altered records of a discounted sale of state-owned land to a school operator with ties to Mr Abe’s wife.
The suspicion of a cover-up has rocked the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and could dash Mr Abe’s hopes of winning a third term as party leader at a vote in September. Losing the party leadership would ruin Mr Abe’s chances of becoming Japan’s longest-serving prime minister.
Opposition lawmakers are calling for Mr Aso to step down to take responsibility, and some analysts believe his resignation is inevitable.
A survey by the Sankei daily showed 71 per cent of respondents said Mr Aso should resign, while support for Mr Abe’s administration slid six points from last month to 45 per cent.
