Japan prosecutors raid ruling party offices over kickback scandal

Japanese authorities searched ruling party headquarters on Tuesday in connection with a fundraising scandal that caused Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to fire four ministers last week.

After claims that officials received 500 million yen ($3.4 million) in bribes, public broadcaster NHK broadcasted images of investigators entering a building housing the office of the main group of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

“The party must work to restore public confidence with a strong sense of urgency,” Kishida told reporters, adding that he could not talk about the investigation in detail.

“Investigations must be carried out rigorously,” he added.

Earlier, Toshimitsu Motegi, the party’s number two, called the raids “extremely regrettable,” telling reporters that the party will take “necessary measures while awaiting the outcome of the investigation.”

Kishida fired four ministers last week, including the chief government spokesperson and commerce minister, for failing to register political money as required by law.

All four ministers were members of the LDP group previously led by ex-premier Shinzo Abe, who was killed after leaving office last year.

On Tuesday, Tokyo public prosecutors raided the office of another LDP group, yet two members of the faction remain ministers.

Prosecutors are allegedly questioning people in charge of the accounts of five of the six LDP divisions over possible undeclared political funds.

Kishida’s poll ratings are the worst for any premier since the LDP returned to power in 2012, dragged down by voter anger about inflation, as well as his handling of a string of earlier scandals.

The latest poll published by the Jiji news agency on Thursday showed public support for Kishida’s cabinet at just 17.1 percent, down 4.2 percentage points.