Scandal Ridden Japanese Minister Commits Suicide
Monday, May 28, 2007 Posted: 04:03 PM JST
Japanese Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Toshikatsu Matsuoka committed suicide today. He was found at his apartment at 12:18 PM Japanese time and taken to a Tokyo Hospital. At 2:00 PM he was declared dead.
Matsuoka was in the news almost daily the past few weeks because of excessive use of public funds and the acceptance of illegal donations. He refused to clarify the situation and came under intense pressure from opposition parties to take responsibility.
Even his own party, the LDP, was starting to turn against him, afraid that the negative publicity would badly influence the LDP's chances for this Summer's important elections.
Prime Minister Abe staunchly defended Matsuoka during his travails. Matsuoka's suicide will certainly be interpreted as an admission of guilt and could affect Abe's popularity.
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Scandal-struck Farm Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka attempts suicide
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Keywords: national_news political_news
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