Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's land deal scandal continues to heat up. According to Kyodo News, Japan’s opposition parties are seeking to summon Abe’s wife, Akie Abe, to testify before parliament.
The opposition parties believe Akie took part in the dubious sale of state-owned land to Yasu-nori Kago-ike, the head of the Osaka-based nationalistic school Moritomo Gakuen.
However, the current administration, the Liberal Democratic Party, denied the claims and say only political issues should be presented in parliament. Meanwhile, Yasu-nori Kago-ike has testified that Abe donated a million yen through his wife to the school. So far, Abe has denied any wrongdoing.
According to a Kyodo News poll released on Sunday, Abe's approval rating slipped further over the shady land deal scandal. Around 62.6 percent of respondents said they were not convinced with Abe's denial of any involvement of him or his wife Akie in the land deal. Over half of the respondents said Akie Abe should testify under oath in parliament.
His approval rating dropped to 52.4 percent, down 3.3 percentage points from a survey two weeks ago. Around 82.5 percent of the respondents said the government has not done enough to clear away suspicions surrounding the scandal.
