TOKYO, May 21 (Bernama-Kyodo) — Farm minister Taku Eto resigned Wednesday after facing backlash over a declaration that he does not buy rice due to being gifted so much by supporters, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba whose popularity has already been shaken by cost-of-living issues, especially the soaring price of rice.
Ishiba is expected to replace Eto with Shinjiro Koizumi, 44, Kyodo news citing government sources said, installing the popular former environment minister who unsuccessfully ran in the Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election last year.
After accepting Eto’s resignation, Ishiba acknowledged his own responsibility as the person who handpicked him and allowed him to stay on even as objections mounted over the comments, saying, “I will accept all criticism.”
Eto, 64, tendered his resignation at the prime minister’s office, hours before Ishiba is set to face off in parliament with leaders of the country’s opposition parties, who had united in their calls for Eto’s resignation.
The latest scandal comes as Ishiba prepares for a House of Councillors election this summer, a must-win race for the ruling coalition after they lost control of the more powerful House of Representatives last year.
Eto is the first of Ishiba’s Cabinet members to leave office for reasons other than having lost a parliamentary seat in the general election in October.
“I asked myself whether it is appropriate for me to stay at the helm (of the ministry) at a critical time for rice prices, and I concluded that it is not,” Eto told reporters at the prime minister’s office after tendering his resignation.
“Once again, I apologise to the people for making extremely inappropriate comments as minister when they are struggling with surging rice prices,” he said.
Eto’s gaffe came shortly after the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry decided to release additional rice from its emergency stockpiles until July. The move was made in the hope of bringing down rice prices, which have doubled from a year earlier.
Eto is known as one of the leading experts on agricultural policy in the ruling party, and served as farm minister for a year from 2019 under then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Opinion polls have shown the public’s increasing dissatisfaction with how the government has addressed the recent spike in rice prices. The issue has been exacerbated as many households have not seen wage growth keep pace with rampant inflation.
Speaking at a fundraising event organised by his party’s local chapter on Sunday, Eto said, “I’m not buying rice. Thanks to my supporters giving me plenty of it, I have so much of it in my house that I could sell it.”
He later explained he wanted to get a laugh from the audience but went “too far,” causing opposition lawmakers to immediately question his suitability for the ministry.
Japan’s major opposition parties agreed Tuesday to jointly urge Eto to resign, threatening a no-confidence motion against him. Criticism also grew within the ruling coalition, with some senior members viewing his departure as inevitable.
Koizumi, the likely new farm minister, lost to Ishiba in the LDP’s presidential election but was one of the favorites in opinion polls to become a future Japanese leader.
The debacle came at a time when a Kyodo News poll showed Ishiba’s approval rating at its lowest level since he took office last October, underscoring how he has so far failed to restore public trust, which was soured by a series of political funds scandals in the LDP.
— BERNAMA-KYODO