Commentary: No, seriously, this is one Japan scandal that’s important

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POTENTIAL FOR WIDER IMPLICATIONS

It’s likely that if the prime minister does depart, key programmes such as defence and semiconductor spending will be taken up by a successor. But don’t underestimate Kishida’s ability to get things done: Abe, too, dreamed of doubling the defense budget but couldn’t get it passed.

Kishida has made it a key policy, even if he hasn’t figured out how to pay for it. Conversely, party unity forced Kishida to retreat from more left-leaning economic policies touted before he took office. A prolonged decline of the Abe faction might endanger that. 

The scandal could even affect monetary policy. Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda wouldn’t discuss the impact when asked Tuesday (Dec 19). But analysts are already speculating that a sidelining of the Abe faction, which supports easy money, would make it easier for the BOJ to end negative rates. Alternately, Kishida (or a successor) might wish to avoid any more turmoil; that might have been the message his economy minister was sent to deliver when Yoshitaka Shindo, unusually, attended Tuesday’s central bank meeting. 

Further out, the ruling coalition makeup and even the party itself could be under threat. Calls to eliminate factions entirely will likely grow. The LDP’s long-standing partnership with junior coalition partner Komeito has been in rough waters for some time, and this could end it; as Harris writes, the “predictable stability that characterised Japanese politics since 2012 is in all likelihood over”.

Japan has largely avoided the trend of populism that has consumed many countries over the past decade. But if it starts to lose seats, the LDP might be forced to make friends with some less mainstream parties – opening the door for more fringe figures.

There’s also a danger that, as has happened elsewhere, this affair could exacerbate public disillusionment with the system itself and spill over into something much less palatable – a concern made worse by the lack of a convincing mainstream opposition that could step in to take over from the LDP. 

One way or another, we’re witnessing a moment with the potential to redefine Japanese politics in profound and unexpected ways. This time it’s worth paying attention. 

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Malaysia’s anti-graft agency cracks down on former finance minister Daim, seizes his flagship property Ilham Tower

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The building is located in a cluster of prime commercial and high-rise residential properties around the iconic Petronas Twin Towers in downtown Kuala Lumpur and estimated to have been built at the cost of US$580 million.

SKETCHY INFORMATION

Financial executives close to the situation noted that the asset-declaration order in late May came together with the freezing of at least a dozen Daim-related business accounts.

The accounts remain frozen and all payments made for the running of his financial enterprises, including the payrolls, require MACC approval, the executives noted.

The MACC has been sketchy with information on the Renong-UEM deal.

Shortly after the probe began in late May, the MACC released a statement that the agency was gathering information into the “alleged embezzlement of state funds amounting to an estimated RM2.3 billion”.

The agency added that it had frozen bank accounts with funds amounting to RM39 million belonging to an unidentified former senior minister and two businessmen, who were also not identified. 

Government officials and anti-graft investigators directly involved in the probe told CNA that the alleged embezzlement of state funds was a direct reference to the RM2.3-billion-ringgit Renong-UEM deal. 

The three unnamed personalities are believed to refer to Mr Daim, who served as finance minister between 1984 and 1991; Mr Halim Saad, his long-time business protégé who at the time was a controlling shareholder of both Renong and UEM through a complex web of cross-holdings; and Mr Abdul Rashid Manaf, a prominent Kuala Lumpur-based lawyer who handled all of UMNO’s corporate affairs.

The MACC’s move to revisit a transaction that happened over 26 years ago has stirred widespread speculation that the ongoing investigation has a strong political dimension and is steeped in the country’s troubled and messy politics, particularly over how current premier Anwar Ibrahim was unceremoniously sacked and jailed in September 1998 after falling out with then-premier Dr Mahathir.

Mr Anwar, who replaced Mr Daim as finance minister in 1991 and had risen to become deputy premier, was hugely critical of the Renong-UEM deal at the time, which caused a meltdown in the Malaysian stock market.

Many analysts believe that the Renong-UEM deal was a critical flashpoint in the straining of ties between Dr Mahathir and his deputy.

With a business career that stretches back to the late 1960s, Mr Daim, a lawyer by training, is widely regarded in Malaysia’s business and political circles as one of the country’s richest personalities. 

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Thailand edges closer to legalising same-sex marriage

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BANGKOK: The Thai parliament is set to begin deliberating four draft Bills on same-sex marriage, moving the country closer towards its legalisation with the first vote on the Bills expected later on Thursday (Dec 21). The deliberation comes after parliament last year debated similar draft laws and the previous government’sContinue Reading