A leading Cabinet member and the top opposition leader have been forced to resign for failing to make compulsory premium payments, at one time or another, into the national pension program.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda and Democratic Party of Japan leader Naoto Kan resigned to take responsibility for missing the payments. They were among a number of Cabinet officials and lawmakers who have failed to make premium payments. The revelations of nonpayment sent shock waves reverberating in Japan during debate on a pension-reform package, the focal issue in the current Diet session.
The disclosures were all the more embarrassing at a time when the percentage of those obligated to join the pension program but failing to pay premiums has risen to 37 percent. The resignations are unlikely to end public distrust of politics anytime soon.