Japan economy minister, key figure in Trans-Pacific trade deal, quits amid scandal
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Version 0 of 1. TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suffered an embarrassing blow Thursday when his economy minister — a man central to both his “Abenomics” strategy and Japan’s membership in the Trans-Pacific Partnership — resigned amid a financial scandal. After a week of obfuscating, Akira Amari stepped down Thursday night, a move that could delay Japan’s ratification of the giant, 12-nation Pacific Rim trade pact through the Diet, or parliament. Amari was due to travel to New Zealand next week for the signing of the pact. His replacement, former environment minister Nobuteru Ishihara, is expected to attend instead. “The budget and key legislation must pass quickly during the current Diet session. I can’t become a factor that will hamper that,” Amari said at a news conference Thursday evening, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper. [Everything you need to know about the Trans-Pacific Partnership] But he sought to distance himself from the scandal that prompted his resignation. The Shukan Bunshun, a weekly magazine, last week alleged that Amari and two of his secretaries received just over $100,000 in illegal donations from a construction company in return for helping to resolve a dispute. “Even though I was not involved, this [matter] has been brought about under my supervisory responsibility,” Amari said at the news conference. “I can’t shift the responsibility to my secretaries.” He acknowledged receiving $8,400 in cash from an official at the construction company but denied breaking any laws, saying the money was reported as political donations in line with regulations. But Amari acknowledged that one of his secretaries received $42,000 from the company and declared less than half of it. Amari became the fourth member of Abe’s cabinet — and the most central to Abe’s mission — to resign over allegations of financial impropriety. The prime minister shouldered the blame Thursday evening, issuing a standard Japanese political expression of regret. “The responsibility of appointing [Amari] rests with me,” he said, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun. “I want to deeply apologize to the public for the situation caused.” Revitalizing Japan’s economy has been one of Abe’s top priorities, and Amari has been promoting the “Abenomics” stimulus and reform plans as well as negotiating the TPP agreement. After eight years of talks, the trade pact, led by the United States and Japan, was finalized at the end of last year. The member countries will sign it next week, but it still has to be ratified by most countries’ legislatures. There has been opposition to the deal in many of those countries, including the United States and Japan. Tobias Harris, a Japan analyst with the consultancy Teneo Intelligence, said Amari’s resignation deprived Abe of one of his closest political allies and someone who has effectively served as “minister for Abenomics.” “It also has immediate policy implications, most notably whether the Abe government will be able to proceed with ratifying the Trans-Pacific Partnership during the current session,” Harris wrote in a research note. Read more: Japanese leader hails trade deal, says it will boost economy and entire region Hundreds of advocacy groups ask Congress to block Obama’s Pacific Rim trade pact Agreement on ‘comfort women’ offers strategic benefit to U.S. in Asia-Pacific |