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 The resignations of the two women, including the high-profile
trade and industry minister, could complicate tough decisions on key
policies, including whether to go ahead with an unpopular plan to
raise the sales tax and planned restarts of nuclear reactors shut
down after the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
Abe hopes to contain the damage through swift replacements of the
two, but the opposition is looking for other potentially vulnerable
ministers also appointed in an early September cabinet reshuffle.
Further resignations could raise doubts about Abe's own future, some
political experts said.
"There are more than two (other) ministers with regard to whom there
are suspicions," Yukio Edano, the opposition Democratic Party's
second-in-command, told reporters. "We will coordinate our actions
among opposition parties, point out the problems and ask for
explanations about the other ministers."
He did not identify the ministers nor explain how the opposition
planned to seek any explanations.
Trade and industry Minister Yuko Obuchi, 40, the daughter of a prime
minister and tipped as a future contender to become Japan's first
female premier, tendered her resignation after allegations that her
support groups misused political funds.
Just hours later, Justice Minister Midori Matsushima also resigned.
The opposition Democratic Party had filed a criminal complaint
against Matsushima, accusing her of violating the election law by
distributing paper fans to voters.
Obuchi and Matsushima were two of five women appointed by Abe in the
cabinet reshuffle, a move intended to boost his popularity and show
his commitment to promoting women as part of his "Abenomics"
strategy to revive the economy.
"I appointed them and as prime minister, I bear responsibility," Abe
told reporters at his office. "I deeply apologise to the people of
the nation." Abe added he wanted to pick successors for the two
posts within the day.
As head of the powerful Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
(METI), Obuchi, a telegenic mother of two, was tasked with selling
Abe's unpopular plan to restart nuclear reactors to a wary public
worried about safety. The process to restart the reactors is made
difficult but unlikely to be delayed by her resignation, officials
said.
Abe told reporters he had picked the Harvard-educated Yoichi
Miyazawa, 64, a former vice economics minister and the nephew of the
late prime minister Kiichi Miyazawa, to replace Obuchi. He selected
Yoko Kamikawa, 61, a former gender equality minister, for the
justice portfolio. She also studied at Harvard.
The departures are the first cabinet resignations for Abe, who took
office in December 2012 for a rare second term, promising to revive
Japan's stalled economy and strengthen its security stance to cope
with challenges such as a rising China.
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OPPOSITION TAKING AIM
Abe's first stint as prime minister in 2006-2007 was marred by
scandals among his ministers - several quit and one committed
suicide. Abe himself resigned after just one year in the face of
parliamentary deadlock, sliding support rates and ill health.
His current government had been little touched by scandal until the
cabinet reshuffle. Abe's ruling coalition has a hefty parliamentary
majority and no general election need be held until 2016, but the
opposition Democrats have taken aim at new ministers in debates to
try to dent Abe's popularity.
Defence Minister Akinori Eto, also appointed in September, has faced
questions from the opposition over his political funds.
"They are trying to limit the damage by getting rid of those (two)
quickly," said Tomoaki Iwai, a political science professor at Nihon
University. "But Abe's support will decline and ... policy
implementation will not go smoothly," he said, adding the situation
would become far tougher if other ministers also quit.
The Tokyo stock market took the resignations in stride. The Nikkei
share average surged 4.0 percent in its biggest daily rise since
June 2013 as investors took heart from upbeat U.S. data and the
weaker yen lifted exporters.
Abe must decide by year-end whether to implement a planned hike in
the sales tax to 10 percent from October 2015. A rise in April to 8
percent pushed the world's third-largest economy into its deepest
quarterly slump since the 2009 global financial crisis.
"I think there is a big possibility that in order to prevent his
support rates from falling, the sales tax rise could be delayed for
a year and a mid-sized economic package crafted," said Koichi
Kurose, chief economist at Resona Bank.
Abe's support fell 6.8 percentage points to 48.1 percent in a
weekend survey by Kyodo news agency from last month. Nearly
two-thirds opposed a second tax hike and almost 85 percent said they
didn't feel the economy had recovered.
The scandals could also dampen the outlook for a bill to legalise
casino resorts, a move that Abe has said would help the economy by
boosting tourists but which many voters oppose and about which Abe's
coalition partner has doubts.
(Additional reporting by Elaine Lies, Antoni Slodkowski, Kaori
Kaneko, Kiyoshi Takenaka and Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Eric
Walsh, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Clarence Fernandez)
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