TOKYO: Japan’s trade and justice ministers resigned on Monday after allegations they misused campaign funds in the biggest setback so far for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s conservative administration.

The two ministers were among five women Abe named to his Cabinet in a reshuffle early last month. Their resignations may help to control the damage to his relatively high popularity ratings, but are a blow to efforts to promote women in politics and business as part of economic revival policies.

Yuko Obuchi, daughter of a former prime minister and a rising star in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, resigned early on Monday as trade minister, saying she needed to focus on an investigation into discrepancies in accounting for election funds.

She did not acknowledge any wrongdoing. Justice Minister Midori Matsushima resigned after the opposition Democratic Party of Japan filed a criminal complaint against her over distribution of hand-held fans or “uchiwa.”

Matsushima also faces complaints over using parliament-provided housing while keeping security guards at her private residence in downtown Tokyo.

Trade and Industry Minister Yuko Obuchi

Speaking to reporters shortly after he accepted Matsushima’s resignation, a somber Abe told reporters he was also responsible because he appointed the two women to his Cabinet. “I deeply apologise to the public,” Abe said. Within hours, Abe named replacements, choosing Yoi­chi Miyazawa, 64, a former finance ministry official as trade minister.

Miyazawa, from Hiroshima, served as a secretary years ago to his uncle, former Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa.

Abe chose Yoko Kamikawa, 61, a female lawmaker who has worked on demographic issues, as the new justice minister.Abe’s first term in office, in 2006-2007, was marred by gaffes and resignations by his Cabinet ministers and he stepped down, citing ill health.

His current term has been smoother, particularly in the first year as the stock market soared along with his popularity ratings.

Pressure for faster action on economic reforms has risen, however, as the recovery faltered following a 3 percentage point increase in the sales tax in April.

Political funding scandals are a chronic problem in Japan and key factor behind the revolving-door politics of recent decades. “These rules are in place precisely because vote-buying using gifts used to be very common in Japan and still is according to some accounts in the rural areas,” said Koichi Nakano, a politics professor at Tokyo’s Sophia University.

The types of gifts and sums of money at the centre of the latest allegations are relatively trivial compared with the record of previous governments. In one case, a stash of gold bullion pulled from an LDP lawmaker’s offices.

But the rules are well-known, and possible violations by a minister of justice did not set well, Nakano said.Two other female Cabinet members known as Abe’s close allies on the right have been criticised for suspected ties with racist groups, marring his efforts to encourage Japan to accept more women in leadership positions.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2014