Kuramoto Sumire: Japan seeking New PM… Job Description: Popular, Sure Win, Well Connected, and above all, No Skeletons in the Closet or Ties to Religious Cults — and definitely No History of Giving Potentially Illegal Political Gifts

Kuramoto Sumire: Me, me, me for PM of Japan… I fit the description except I will Openly Bribe like Elon Musk!

Japan’s leader didn’t read the job description

The political-gift scandal is a blow to Ishiba’s squeaky-clean image

Japan’s ruling party is seeking a new leader! We are a leading political organization that has dominated power for the past 70 years. The perfect candidate will be popular with the electorate, able to bridge various factions and have an ability to win elections. Above all, they’ll have no skeletons in the closet or ties to religious cults — and definitely no history of giving potentially illegal political gifts.

When the Liberal Democratic Party last year set about looking for a new leader, the job description would have read something like this. But the man who got the job, Shigeru Ishiba, didn’t get the message.

Secret Agent Shigeru Ishiba on his way to destroy the LDP in Japan once and for all…

Yakuza Game Plot?

Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Shigeru Ishiba is facing a political funding scandal that has damaged his reputation and sparked speculation that internal efforts to remove him are underway.

It’s bad enough that his public popularity has been underwhelming, leading to a disastrous performance in last year’s general election that left the LDP running a minority government. Now, just as polling season is set to ramp up again, he’s caught up in a political funding scandal, trashing a squeaky-clean image that was perhaps his greatest public strength.

Ishiba had admitted to giving gift vouchers worth ¥100,000 ($670) to 15 first-time lawmakers ahead of a dinner at his official residence. Although they all returned the gifts, the act could be in violation of political funding laws, though the legislation has plenty of wiggle room.

The vouchers were “prepared at my own personal expense, from my pocket money, in lieu of a souvenir of the dinner and as a gesture of appreciation to their families,” Ishiba told reporters last week when the news broke. “They don’t violate any laws.”

It might be true that his gifts aren’t criminal — experts are divided — and it may hinge on what exactly was discussed at the dinner. But the legality isn’t the core issue: It’s a matter of appearances. The only reason Ishiba is in the job at all is because of the scandal that has consumed the LDP for more than a year, in which lawmakers failed to report hundreds of millions of yen in proceeds from fundraising parties. It has led to multiple indictments and the dissolution of almost all the LDP’s factions. Ishiba’s predecessor, Fumio Kishida, stepped down to take responsibility, despite not being personally implicated.

Ishiba’s rationale has rung hollow. The premier has argued that since the gifts were not intended to be used for political purposes, they are harmless. And in any case, he says, he also received such gifts when he was younger. His attempts to deal with the scandal have the air of an “I’m sorry if you were offended” nonapology.

Rather than demonstrate humility, he instead berated a reporter who asked if the gifts violated political funding laws. The prime minister seemed to seek a “gotcha” moment, demanding they cite precisely which clause and article of the law he might have violated. Ishiba likes to carry the airs of being the “smartest person in the room.” This was hardly the time for such preening.

If there was nothing wrong with the gifts, then the lawmakers wouldn’t be returning them. It’s telling that all 15, elected for the first time, seemed to have better political instincts than a man who has spent his career trying to become prime minister.

Of course, you might say, the stakes are minuscule, as they often are in Japanese politics. Who can be bought for $670? But precisely because of the LDP’s stranglehold on power, the public is distrustful. Resignations have in the past been triggered for such minor infractions as distributing melons or paper fans to constituents.

Taken as a whole, the amount spent was ¥1.5 million ($10,000), or around one-third of the average national salary — not exactly “pocket money,” as Ishiba put it. Especially at a time when voters are incensed not only about the LDP’s use of slush funds, but with inflation and falling real wages, it’s hard to understand what the prime minister was thinking. Often thought to be in touch with regular people despite his own rather privileged background, he has misread this situation badly.

The affair has already torpedoed his polling. An Asahi survey found support for his Cabinet dropped 14 percentage points to 26% — the same level for Kishida before his resignation, though 60% said Ishiba didn’t need to resign over the incident.

The timing of the scandal, coming just a day after the first public calls within the LDP to remove him, fearing defeat in the Upper House elections this summer, will raise suspicions that it’s a coordinated effort to push Ishiba out. But I’m not convinced that any of the contenders, including Sanae Takaichi, whom he defeated in last year’s runoff vote to lead the party, would resonate any better.

Others who might make strong candidates could be reluctant to take their shot, when the party commands a weak minority government. It’s a matter of debate whether any LDP politician can live up to the standards demanded by the public right now. The party brand itself may be damaged beyond repair.

But one thing is for sure: No matter the workplace, if you don’t live up to the job expectations, sooner or later you’ll be shown the door.