DOCUMENTS ALTERED, SAYS JAPAN MINISTRY

Tokyo, March 12: Japan’s finance ministry admitted to doctoring key documents related to a favouritism scandal dogging Shinzo Abe, a ruling lawmaker said Monday, as a new poll suggested the affair is hitting the prime minister’s popularity.

Abe and his finance minister Taro Aso face mounting pressure over the scandal, which has resurfaced in recent days with allegations that officials altered key evidence to parliament.

Among the names removed from the documents was that of Akie Abe, the prime minister’s wife, according to several Japanese media outlets. Hiroshi Moriyama, Diet affairs chief at the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, told reporters that the government's deputy chief cabinet secretary had informed him that the ministry altered official documents.

The scandal emerged last year and concerns the sale of land to a close friend of Abe at a price said to be around one tenth of its normal value. Opposition politicians have alleged the buyer of the land was able to clinch the sale at such a favourable price because of his ties to the Abe family.

Abe appeared to have ridden out the storm but the scandal has hit the headlines again, with the finance ministry expected to admit some key passages in the land sale documents were removed before being presented to MPs.

Original documents included the names of several politicians, which were deleted before being submitted to lawmakers, the media reported on Monday.