Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is planning to sack internal affairs minister Minoru Terada, the Yomiuri newspaper reported Sunday, a move that would make Terada the third Cabinet minister to leave in under a month in a fresh blow for Kishida's battered support ratings.
Kishida made the decision to oust Terada on Saturday given increasing pressure within his party to lessen the impact on the upcoming parliament session on the second extra budget for the fiscal year through March and will discuss the procedures with aides on Sunday, Yomiuri said.
Terada has come under fire for several funding scandals and has acknowledged that one of his support groups had submitted a funding documentation ostensibly signed by a dead person, and calls have risen for his departure ahead of budget deliberations set to start this week.