Photo/Illutration The four Cabinet ministers from the Abe faction are, from left: Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno; Yasutoshi Nishimura, the economy minister; Ichiro Miyashita, the agriculture minister; and Junji Suzuki, the internal affairs minister. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The ax will fall on four Cabinet ministers belonging to the largest faction in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Dec. 14, a high-ranking government official said.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will oust Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, Yasutoshi Nishimura, the economy minister, Junji Suzuki, the internal affairs minister, and Ichiro Miyashita, the agriculture minister, on that day, the official said.

He is expected to formally announce that he will replace the four Cabinet ministers at his Dec. 13 news conference after the current extraordinary Diet session closes.

Investigative sources said the LDP faction once led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had accumulated a “slush fund” of as much as 500 million yen ($3.4 million) through faction members’ excess sales of tickets to fund-raising parties. The members were apparently later given kickbacks from the slush fund.

The money accumulated in the slush fund and the kickbacks were not listed in the political fund reports of the faction or the members.

Matsuno is suspected of receiving about 10 million yen in kickbacks, while Nishimura is believed to have received 1 million yen.

Both Suzuki and Miyashita have denied receiving any kickback, but sources said Kishida apparently wants all Abe faction members to leave the Cabinet and to have them review their political fund reports.

Kishida has also decided to replace the five senior vice ministers and six parliamentary secretaries in his Cabinet who belong to the Abe faction. No specific date has been set for when that personnel change will be implemented, sources said.

Kishida has also indicated he wants to replace three other Abe faction members who hold important LDP posts.

The three are Koichi Hagiuda, the LDP policy chief; Tsuyoshi Takagi, the chairman of the LDP’s Diet Affairs Committee; and Hiroshige Seko, secretary-general of the LDP’s Upper House caucus.

No specific date for that personnel change has been decided either, sources said.

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