Japan’s Kishida replaces 4 ministers linked to slush funds scandal to contain damage to party

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has replaced four of his Cabinet ministers in an effort to contain the damage from a widening slush funds scandal that has shaken his governing party. The shakeup is Kidhida’s third of his Cabinet, whose support ratings have continued to drop. The scandal involves the Liberal Democratic Party’s largest faction, which was led by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Kishida replaced four ministers from the Abe faction on Thursday: Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno; Economy and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura; Agriculture Minister Ichiro Miyashita; and Internal Affairs Minister Junji Suzuki. All have emerged as the alleged recipients of suspected kickbacks of unreported fundraising proceeds.