Japan's defense minister resigned yesterday over remarks that
appeared to accept the 1945 atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, attempting to quell the latest furor plaguing the ruling
camp ahead of an election this month.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's support rates have already been
slashed by outrage over government mishandling of pension records,
and Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma's perceived gaffe has been adding
to his headaches before the July 29 upper house poll.
Abe tapped national security adviser Yuriko Koike, 54, a former
environment minister who speaks fluent English and Arabic, to
succeed Kyuma and become Japan's first female defense minister. She
will be sworn in today.
"I regret that my comments have caused trouble. I am very
sorry," Kyuma -- whose election district includes Nagasaki -- told
reporters, adding that Abe had accepted his offer to resign.
Kyuma had apologized several times and Abe had tried to dampen
criticism by reprimanding the 66-year-old minister, who said on
Saturday the atomic bombings just days before Japan's surrender in
World War II "could not be helped."
But opposition parties, keen to press their advantage ahead of
the election, had kept up pressure for him to resign. The scale was
tipped when a prominent lawmaker in the ruling coalition's junior
partner obliquely called for Kyuma to go.
"It is natural he should resign. The heavy responsibility of
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has many problem cabinet ministers,
remains for appointing him," Yukio Hatoyama, a senior leader of the
main opposition Democratic Party, told reporters.
Kyuma is the second minister to resign since Abe took office in
September, after a funding scandal felled a cabinet member in
December. A scandal-tainted farm minister killed himself in
May.
"It's a big blow to Abe. The problem for Abe is that his initial
reaction was to try to defend him," said Gerry Curtis, a Columbia
University political science professor.
"I think the damage is pretty substantial. It's better for Abe
that Kyuma resigns than not, but it's a bad story for Abe," Curtis
added.
Abe can ill afford any more scandals ahead of the election.
A weekend survey by the Asahi newspaper showed the prime
minister's support rate had slipped 3 points in the previous week
to 28 percent, the weakest showing for the once-popular leader
since he took office last September.
(China Daily July 4, 2007)
