Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has decided to remove Hirokazu Matsuno from the post of chief cabinet secretary amid a high-profile political funds scandal, government and ruling party sources said Saturday.

Matsuno has held the key government post since the launch of Kishida’s administration in October 2021. His departure is expected to be a major blow to the prime minister.

It is unusual for the chief cabinet secretary, who serves as the government’s top spokesperson, to be replaced. In the past, Hidenao Nakagawa and Yasuo Fukuda resigned from the post over a sex scandal in October 2000 and failure to pay public pension premiums in May 2004, respectively.

Matsuno is suspected of receiving more than 10 million yen in undeclared funds from the proceeds of fundraising parties organized by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s largest faction, formerly led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office’s special investigation squad is investigating such flows of funds to members of the LDP faction.

Before becoming chief cabinet secretary, Matsuno served as head of the faction’s secretariat for about two years. He is currently a member of the faction’s decision-making body.

Since the LDP scandal broke, Matsuno has continued to refuse to give explanations about the matter at regular twice-a-day press conferences, citing his position as a government official rather than an LDP lawmaker.

At a parliamentary committee meeting on Friday, Matsuno said that his own political group’s income and expenditure have been properly handled, but declined to answer specific questions.

JIJI Press