Third Japan minister quits in a month

TOKYO: Japan’s internal affairs minister has resigned in connection with a funding scandal, becoming the third Cabinet member to leave in less than a month in a severe blow to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s already shaky support.

Kishida’s approval ratings have sunk after the July assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe revealed longstanding ties between ruling Liberal Democratic Party politicians and the Unification Church, a group that critics say is a cult.

Internal affairs minister Minoru Terada tendered his resignation to Kishida yesterday after reports that the premier was going to sack him.

Terada, under fire for several funding scandals, has acknowledged that one of his support groups had submitted funding documentation ostensibly signed by a dead person.

Kishida said he had accepted Terada’s resignation to prioritise parliamentary debate.