Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida concludes his news conference on Dec. 13. (Pool)

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s personnel changes may be designed to give his administration a fresh start, but insiders say the process shows he has lost his hold on the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The changes were made amid a growing scandal over the apparent underreporting of income and expenditures related to fund-raising parties held by the LDP faction once led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

But suspicions of underreporting have spread to other factions, including the one Kishida himself once led.

The prime minister wanted someone unaffiliated with any faction to take over as chief Cabinet secretary from Hirokazu Matsuno, an Abe faction member who resigned from the Cabinet on Dec. 14.

On the afternoon of Dec. 12, Seiji Kihara, an LDP acting secretary-general who has long been a close associate of Kishida, met with Yasukazu Hamada, a former defense minister.

Kihara told Hamada that Kishida wanted to name him as the new chief Cabinet secretary.

Although Hamada does not belong to an LDP faction, he had served as defense minister until September. He is also known for adeptly handling reporters’ questions, a key skill required of the government’s top spokesman.

Hamada told Kihara that he wanted to support the administration, but he did not feel qualified to serve as chief Cabinet secretary.

That post calls for coordination among the various government ministries, and Hamada may have felt the burden would be too great.

But when rumors circulated in political circles that Hamada had turned down Kishida’s offer, one former Cabinet minister said, “I guess he does not want to board a sinking ship.”

Kishida had to turn to Yoshimasa Hayashi, a close faction ally, to replace Matsuno.

The prime minister also had to scale back his initial intention to remove all political appointees in his administration who belonged to the Abe faction.

After reports of that plan spread, Koichi Hagiuda, the LDP policy chief who plays an executive role in the Abe faction, asked Kishida on Dec. 11 to reconsider, especially for the younger lawmakers serving as parliamentary secretaries.

Hagiuda said faction members who played no part in the scandal should not be forced out.

Since Hagiuda himself was embroiled in the fund-raising scandal, he said he would leave any decision about his LDP post in the prime minister’s hands.

Hagiuda, however, submitted his letter of resignation on Dec. 14 before Kishida could oust him from the LDP executive lineup.

Other lawmakers in the party also expressed their displeasure at Kishida’s move to rid his administration of all Abe faction members.

Kishida had given many government posts to Abe faction members because he wanted the support of the largest LDP faction to stabilize his administration.

(This article was written by Asako Myoraku and Kohei Morioka.)

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