The ruling coalition on Dec. 13 used its overwhelming majority in the Diet to vote down an opposition-sponsored no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet.

But Kishida is set to replace four key ministers on Dec. 14, including the chief Cabinet secretary, a vital position in the Cabinet, which has just won the confidence of the legislature.

It is as if the prime minister himself is admitting that his Cabinet was actually not worthy of confidence.

The first extraordinary session of the Diet since Kishida’s Cabinet reshuffle in September ended on Dec. 13. During the session, two vice ministers and one parliamentary secretary resigned amid scandals.

Kishida has been forced to sack ministers and vice ministers from the Abe faction, the largest faction of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which is embroiled in a snowballing scandal surrounding slush funds created with money raised from factional political funding parties, immediately after the session closed.

The Diet, which readily passed the supplementary budget and other bills riddled with problems submitted by this embattled government and the discredited ruling camp, cannot be said to have performed its watchdog role.

The supplementary budget ballooned to over 13 trillion yen ($91.57 billion) as trillions were poured into items that are difficult to recognize as "expenditures that have become especially urgent" as defined by the public finance law.

Moreover, some 70 percent of the money to finance the spending plan will come from borrowing.

However, the flawed extra budget was approved through brief, tepid discussions with no well-founded and persuasive explanations to justify the massive spending from Kishida or other top administration officials.

None of the major problems with the budget were rectified as it breezed through the Diet, thanks in part to the support of the opposition Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) and the Democratic Party for the People.

The revised National University Corporation Law, which raised concerns among faculty and staff members at many universities about the potential threat it poses to "academic freedom" and "university autonomy," was also enacted without any action to address the concerns.

A special law for the relief of victims of dubious activities of the Unification Church (formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification) was eventually supported by many opposition parties.

However, without provisions for the preservation of the religious group's assets, which should be used to provide financial relief to victims as demanded by people victimized by the group’s operations, the law’s effectiveness remains questionable.

It has been revealed that the leader of a friendship organization of the Unification Church was present at a 2019 meeting in Tokyo between Kishida, who was then the LDP’s policy chief, and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

But Kishida insists he had no idea who was there other than Gingrich.

His evasive and repeated denials of any involvement with the religious group do not show any sign that he has seriously reflected on the possibility that politicians may have been used by the church and contributed, if unwittingly, to the spread of the damage.

In the final days of the extraordinary session, the focus of Diet deliberations was on political funding issues related to fund-raising parties of LDP factions.

But both Kishida and the ministers implicated in the allegations simply dodged related questions, repeating, “I decline to answer” because of potential repercussions on the ongoing criminal investigation.

This only deepens the public distrust in politics and politicians.

The Diet also eschewed tackling the issue of injecting transparency and accountability into the ways Diet members spend 1 million yen of fixed monthly allowances intended to cover research, travel and communications expenses.

These were formerly referred to as allowances for “documents, communications, travel and accommodations,” or “buntsu-hi” for short.

The proposal to mandate disclosure of the use of the allowances, a target of criticism because it is hidden behind the thick veil of opaqueness, has been shelved for three years.

Fundamental transparency in political funding, including proceeds from fund-raising parties, must be realized in the regular Diet session next year.

Both the ruling and opposition parties bear a heavy responsibility for taking effective actions to restore trust in politics.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 14