Japan: PM Fumio Kishida apologises for ID card fiasco

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday (August 4) apologised for mishaps over government plan to intergrate people's tax and social security data into a single identification card. The premier has seen his approval ratings plummet to their lowest since he took office.

Adding to his troubles, one of Kishida's members of parliament has resigned as a deputy minister amid allegation that he had accepted bribes from a company.

"I apologise for the concerns that have spread among the public," Kishida said at a news conference held in a bid to ease concern over the identification card plan.

Public frustrations with the push for a single "My Number" card system have mounted after errors in its implementation came to light.

Such errors have involved people's health insurance information being linked to wrong social security account and welfare payments were even made to the wrong persons.

A Yomiuri newspaper poll in July found that the public approval rating for the Kishida administration had dipped to a low of 35%. The same poll found 52% of respondents did not support the government.

Earlier on Friday, prosecutors in Tokyo raided the office of ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Masatoshi Akimoto on suspicion that he took bribes of tens of millions of yens, reported public broadcaster NHK.

The foreign ministry later announced that Akimoto had stepped down from his post as a vice minister.

Kishida declined to comment directly on Akimoto in his press conference saying that the investigation was ongoing. But Kishida said that he was "very disappointed that the situation has turned into one that sows distrust among the public."

Asked about the possibility that the alleged bribes accepted from a renewable energy company might be perceived as exploiting Japan's energy policy, Kishida said only that the government's policy on energy was "unwavering".

Reuters reported that calls to Akimoto's office went unanswered. Government spokesperson Hirokazu Matsuno declined to comment, saying that Akimoto had not spoken to him about the issue.

(With inputs from agencies)

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