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Justice minister resigns over wife’s alleged election law breach

Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai said Thursday he will step down over alleged election law violations involving his wife.
Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai said Thursday he will step down over alleged election law violations involving his wife.
31 Oct 2019 12:10:42 GMT9
31 Oct 2019 12:10:42 GMT9
  • Japanese Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday morning after a magazine report about his wife's suspected election law violation.
  • His resignation was accepted immediately. 

Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai said Thursday he will step down over alleged election law violations involving his wife (Anri Kawai), adding to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's woes by becoming the second Cabinet minister to quit in a week.

Abe named House of Councillors lawmaker Masako Mori of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party as new justice minister.

Anri Kawai, who won a House of Councillors seat in July, is suspected of having paid staff members a daily allowance that exceeds the amount permitted, the Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine reported online Wednesday.

"Neither my wife nor I was aware of (the alleged wrongdoings)," Kawai told reporters after submitting his letter of resignation to Abe at the prime minister's office.

"I will get to the bottom of them and fulfill my responsibility to clear them up," he said.

 The campaigning team of the wife of Japan's Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai, who won her first seat in an upper house election in July, is suspected of having paid staff members a daily allowance that exceeds the amount permitted under law, a weekly magazine reported online Wednesday.

The Shukan Bunshun magazine said that the election office of Anri Kawai, who ran on a Liberal Democratic Party ticket in the Hiroshima constituency, paid 13 female campaign announcers 30,000 yen ($276) per day, double the amount allowed by law.

The receipts, which were split across two dates -- one before the election and the other during -- were each for the maximum legal amount of 15,000 yen per day, according to the magazine, which will contain the scoop in its latest edition on Thursday.

If the allegations are found to be true, the actions may be considered bribery of campaign members, a violation of Japan's election law, with opposition parties expected to push for a thorough inquiry into the matter.

The scandal comes on the back of trade minister Isshu Sugawara's resignation last week, following allegations by the same weekly magazine, that his office offered money and gifts to supporters in violation of the country's election law.

He was the ninth Cabinet minister to step down since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returned to power in 2012, following the resignation in April of gaffe-prone Yoshitaka Sakurada from the post of Olympics minister.

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