Japan’s Kishida Dumps Ministers With Ties to Abe-Linked Church
TimeMAR 27 2022
This reshuffle is clearly an attempt to distract the people of Japan from central issues involving the LDP and the Unification Church, and the measure blatantly falls short of actually tackling the problem. Changing some cabinet names won't make any difference in Kishida's administration.
It was in the public interest that links between politicians and the Unification Church were disclosed. Kishida rightly responded to these concerns by reshuffling his cabinet to exclude those members associated with the cult and by forcing others with ties to the group to reexamine their relationships to it.
This move was anticipated after Abe's death; Kishida was able to use the outcry over the Unification Church to promote changes to purge his predecessor's loyalists from his cabinet. Without having to worry about pandering to Abe's concerns, Kishida is now free to exert his leadership in the LDP.