Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday refused an opposition party's request to dismiss labor minister Takumi Nemoto after his ministry's faulty jobs data handling led to the large-scale underpayment of work-related benefits.
"I want minister Nemoto to continue to take a leading role in swiftly repaying the missing benefits, thoroughly investigating the case and preventing a recurrence," Abe told a plenary session of the Lower House
He made the comment in response to questions from Yukio Edano, who heads the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, which along with other opposition parties is stepping up pressure on the Abe administration in the run-up to the summer's Upper House elections.