日本經產相和法務相辭職

Two of the five female ministers in Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet have resigned.

Both resigned Monday over claims they misused political funds to buy voter support.

Allegations against Trade Minister Yuko Obuchi - daughter of a former prime minister - began to emerge last week that she spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of election funds to subsidize the purchase of theater tickets and other gifts for her home constituency.

Just hours after Obuchi resigned, Justice Minister Midori Matsushima handed in her resignation over claims that she had violated election law by distributing paper fans with her name and picture on them to voters in her district. She said the fans should be allowed as "leaflets."

Prime Minister Abe said Monday, "I appointed them and as prime minister, I bear responsibility." He apologized to the Japanese people and said he would appoint their replacement by the end of the day.

The double resignations are the first significant problem for Mr. Abe since he swept to power in 2012, ending years of fragile governments that swapped out prime ministers on an annual basis.

Political funding scandals are a chronic problem in Japan. However, the types of gifts and sums of money at the center of the latest allegations are relatively trivial compared with the record of previous governments.她們都是星期一因爲被指責濫用政治獻金收買選票支持而辭職的。

上週有人指責前首相小淵惠三的女兒、經產相小淵優子花費數十萬美元的競選資金爲她所在選區的選民購買戲院門票和其它禮物進行補貼。

在小淵經產相辭職幾個小時之後，法務相鬆島綠也提交辭呈。針對她的指稱說，她向自己所在選區的選民散發印有她的名字和圖片的紙扇子，違反了選舉法。她說，這些扇子不應當被允許當作宣傳單散發。

安倍首相星期一表示，“是我任命的她們，作爲首相，我承擔責任。”他向日本民衆道歉，並表示他將在星期一指定兩位辭職大臣的替代人選。

兩名內閣成員一天內相繼辭職，是安倍晉三2012年選舉中大獲全勝上臺執政以來首次遇到的重大問題。安倍之前的多年間，日本政府非常脆弱，首相幾乎一年一換。

政治資金醜聞問題在日本政壇多年存在，但是相比安倍之前的日本政府的記錄來看，此次醜聞中禮物的類型和金額相對較小。