Japan minister says won't quit over farm scandal
Updated: 2007-09-01 20:32
TOKYO - Japan's agriculture minister apologised on Saturday for illegal dealings at a farmers' aid association that he heads but said he would not resign from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's new cabinet.
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In a news conference, Takehiko Endo admitted to learning more than three years ago that the organisation had illegally received 1.15 million yen (US$9,900) from the state, but he had neglected to inform Abe about it before his appointment on Monday.
The group, in Endo's constituency in northern Japan, has not returned the money to state coffers.
The farm minister's post has recently come under intense scrutiny. Endo's predecessor was sacked over reports of discrepancies in his political funding records. The previous incumbent committed suicide after a separate scandal.
Speaking to reporters in Izu, eastern Japan, Abe urged Endo to clarify the issue for the public, according to Kyodo news.
"The management of funds to aid farmers should be fair," Kyodo quoted Abe as saying. Endo "should clearly respond to questions and suspicions", he added.
Abe had come under fire for defending scandal-tainted ministers in his previous cabinet, which lost four ministers to gaffes and corruption, including one through suicide.
The latest misdeed, reported by the Asahi newspaper on Saturday, could deal a fresh blow to Abe, who was hoping that his reshuffled team would win him a clean start after his coalition suffered a crushing defeat in an upper house election in July.
A poll by the Nikkei financial daily earlier this week had shown public support for his cabinet up 13 points from late July, to 41 percent.
On Friday, Endo apologised for receiving a donation of 50,000 yen (US$430) from a livestock dealers' group that accepts state subsidies from an affiliate of his ministry.
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