The government's handling of the glitch-ridden My Number card system has continued to attract attention in the political center of Nagatacho amid a severe drop in approval ratings and rising speculation over a possible Cabinet reshuffle in the upcoming months.

Another faux pas in managing the fallout from the debacle could deal a further blow to the administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and jeopardize the political standing of digital minister Taro Kono.

Since the start of the flare-up in early spring, Kishida has largely left the digital agency and Kono at the mercy of public scrutiny. So far, the digital minister has handled the criticism poorly, appearing short-tempered when answering questions about the malfunctions.

During a one-day parliamentary meeting on Wednesday, Kono avoided any direct comment on his own responsibility on the matter, despite pressure from opposition lawmakers, arguing that he will work to alleviate the public’s concerns and increase awareness of the My Number system.

Kono also reiterated the necessity of scrapping health insurance cards and merging them with My Number cards in the fall of 2024, even after a lawmaker from his own party expressed doubts over the plan in the same meeting.

Widely regarded as one of Japan’s most popular politicians, the digital minister’s reputation among the public is now sagging.

According to a poll conducted by the Mainichi Shimbun, 51% of respondents said they had no expectations for Kono to investigate the causes of the My Number issues. Further missteps at this stage could exacerbate his position and prompt Kishida to remove him from his post in a potential Cabinet reshuffle.

Opposition parties lambasted his absence when an independent commission tasked with protecting personal information conducted an on-site investigation of the agency last Wednesday, on the grounds that it failed to put appropriate risk-management procedures in place.

At the time, Kono was in the middle of a long overseas trip to Northern Europe and the Middle East.

“The minister supposedly taking the lead was out of the country for two weeks at a crucial time (for the agency), and then he was absent on the day of the inspection. Isn’t that irresponsible?” said Hideya Sugio, a lawmaker from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan during the Wednesday meeting.

Kono replied that during that period the agency was waiting for reports from other organizations involved in the inspection, and that it was “obvious” that he engaged in different activities and that that's why he was unable to be there in person.

Following public condemnation, Kono was forced to call off plans to travel to the United States in late August after taking part in a Group of 20 ministerial meeting in India. However, asked about the reasons behind the change, the digital agency said the decision was taken before the issues surrounding the My Number cards emerged.

In late June, Kono was nominated as the head of a dedicated task force in charge of investigating the causes behind the malfunctions, which started as a spate of technical glitches and escalated right as the end of the parliament session was approaching.

However, a few weeks ahead of the planned release of an interim report on the topic, opinion polls have signaled that the government’s response has yet to reassure the public.

Reflecting widespread public skepticism toward the government’s efforts, a Yomiuri Shimbun poll carried out last weekend found that 78% of respondents said that they don’t expect the task force to resolve the technical issues.

In another survey conducted by the Mainichi Shimbun around same period, 50% of respondents expressed an unfavorable opinion toward the cards, saying they're not beneficial to them, compared to 41% who said they had some benefits.

After parliament passed a law to formalize the health insurance-My Number merger last month, Kishida, in an attempt to placate the public, announced an extension of the health insurance cards' validity until the fall of 2025 to help with the transition, even after the merging begins in late 2024.

However, surveys continue to show that public dissatisfaction over the My Number system remains high.

Some 58% of respondents to the Yomiuri Shimbun poll said they opposed the government’s plan to scrap health insurance cards and incorporate them with My Number cards. Only a third of respondents said they were in favor of the move.

Similarly, in an online poll conducted by the health ministry in May, 56.5% of respondents — selected among those who had made use of My Number as a health insurance card in the previous three months — answered that they didn’t see any particular benefits in the card.

Heavyweights within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party have also expressed doubts over the government’s plans to push forward with the merger.

At an event in Kumamoto prefecture on Monday, LDP policy chief Koichi Hagiuda urged the government to prioritize public understanding over schedule constraints in stepping up digitization efforts.

“While it’s necessary to move the system forward, as long as citizens have concerns, we need to create opportunities to educate them and obtain their understanding, without setting a time limit,” Hagiuda told reporters.

Asked to comment on Hagiuda’s remarks on Tuesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno reaffirmed the government’s stance that easing public concerns over the My Number cards remains a top priority, but that it won’t affect the original schedule.

At this stage, however, it remains unclear whether the government will effectively manage to alleviate those concerns.