A scandal-tainted minister in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's
cabinet committed suicide yesterday, compounding problems for the
Japanese leader whose support has slumped ahead of a July
election.
It was the first suicide by a Japanese Cabinet minister since
the days after Japan's defeat in World War II, according to
officials at the national library.
"This will have serious political fallout, but at this point
it's hard to tell how much," a government official said.
Agriculture Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka's suicide came as Abe's
public support rate fell to its lowest level since he took office
last September, due largely to voter anger over mismanagement of
pension premiums that could shortchange retirees.
The dent in Abe's popularity had already increased chances that
his ruling camp would lose its majority in the election for
parliament's upper house, his first big test at the polls.
Matsuoka, 62, under fire for a series of political funding
scandals, died in hospital after he was found unconscious in his
room at a Tokyo residential complex for lawmakers.
Police said he hanged himself but declined to comment on
Japanese media reports that he left a suicide note.
"I am overwhelmed with shame. I deeply hope his soul will rest
in peace," a visibly-shaken Abe told reporters.
Matsuoka, who had repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, had been
scheduled to be grilled again in parliament later yesterday.
Critics had charged that Abe was protecting Matsuoka, and the
prime minister's image would likely suffer in the short term,
political analysts said. But they added that the long-term fallout
could depend on how Abe handled the matter.
"It's hard to say what will happen. It depends on Abe's
response," said Jun Iio, a political science professor at the
National Graduate Institute for Political Studies.
"This could make it hard for the opposition to follow up on the
scandals, but it could also give the impression that there was
something so bad that he had to commit suicide."
Financial markets had no immediate reaction to the news.
Opposition leaders expressed shock at Matsuoka's suicide.
"It's regrettable that Prime Minister Abe didn't make (Matsuoka)
explain himself to the public," Mizuho Fukushima, leader of the
tiny Social Democratic Party told reporters. "The prime minister
has heavy responsibility over this."
Japan has one of the highest suicide rates among industrialized
nations, which experts attribute partly to an absence of religious
prohibition against taking one's own life and the tradition of
committing suicide to atone for failure or to save loved ones from
embarrassment.
Abe's support slumps
Abe's administration was already under fire after the Social
Insurance Agency, which manages the pension system, acknowledged
that it had failed to keep proper track of 50 million premium
payments.
Abe has said his government would try to sort out the problem
and ensure full payments were made, but voters appeared
unconvinced.
Only 32 percent of the voters who responded to a weekend survey
by the Mainichi newspaper backed Abe, down 11 points from April,
while a poll by the Nikkei business daily put the prime minister's
support rate at 41 percent, down 12 points.
The Mainichi survey showed that 42 percent of the voters want
the main opposition Democratic Party to win the July election,
compared with 33 percent who want Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic
Party (LDP) to win.
The LDP and its junior coalition partner, New Komeito, need to
win a total of 64 seats out of 121 up for grabs in the July
election to keep their majority in the 242-seat upper house.
(China Daily via Agencies, May 29, 2007)
