Kishida faces heat from all sides over political funds scandal

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida faced off against Japan’s main opposition party Wednesday over the government’s disaster response one month after the New Year’s Day earthquake on the Noto Peninsula, as well as his handling of the political funds scandal that has engulfed the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Kenta Izumi, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, called on the government to raise the value of reconstruction grants given to disaster victims from the current ¥3 million ($20,300) to ¥6 million. Kishida, however, remained noncommittal in his response.

“The government will take flexible financial measures in several phases, in accordance with the state of quake restoration and reconstruction,” Kishida said. “The reserve budget for the current fiscal year (ending March 31), which has a balance of over ¥300 billion, will be utilized, as well as the reserve budget for the next fiscal year, which has doubled to ¥1 trillion.”