Abe Denies Alleged Pressure on Ishiba Aide to Resign as Minister

September 18, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has denied the allegation by Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Ken Saito that he had been urged by a supporter of Abe in the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership race to resign if he backs former LDP Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba in the upcoming party poll.

"I asked my camp (about the allegation), and they said that's not true," Abe, who is aiming for a third consecutive term as LDP president to stay in power, said in a televised debate with Ishiba on Monday night.

In response, Ishiba said in a strong tone that Saito, a member of Ishiba's intraparty group, is "absolutely not a person who makes up stories."

The LDP leadership election, scheduled for Thursday, is a one-on-one contest between Abe and Ishiba.

Saito revealed the alleged pressure from the Abe camp at a meeting of the Ishiba faction on Friday although he did not name the person who put the pressure on him.

"There's a prevailing mood of trying to win through pressure or something like that," Saito said. "I want to break this."

During the TV debate, Abe said he wants Saito to disclose the name of anyone who has exerted unfair pressure on him.

Ishiba argued that such a disclosure would bring chaos to the party. He noted that Abe's request on Saito is similar to the Ministry of Finance's controversial call earlier this year on any victims of sexual harassment by the then top MOF bureaucrat to step forward.

In a different TV program on Monday, Abe claimed that it is not rare to put pressure on rival camps in party elections. Ishiba criticized Abe for misunderstanding what the party should be. Jiji Press