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TOKYO - Japan's Agriculture Minister Takehiko Endo has resigned over illegal dealings at a farmers' group he headed, dealing a fresh blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe just a week after he revamped his Cabinet.
Abe's first Cabinet was beset by scandals and gaffes and the 52-year-old conservative leader named a new line-up to try to revive public support after the ruling coalition suffered a defeat in a July 29 election that gave the opposition a majority in Parliament's Upper House.
Endo admitted that a farmers' aid group he headed had illegally taken 1.15 million ($14,000) from the state and had failed to disclose this to Abe before his appointment.
Abe's first appointment to the farm portfolio committed suicide over a separate scandal and the second was fired over reports of discrepancies in his political funding records.
Two other ministers in Abe's first Cabinet were forced to resign for gaffes or scandals.
Surveys show that support for Abe, who took power a year ago pledging to revise Japan's pacifist constitution and boost its global security profile, rebounded to 40 per cent after he named the new Cabinet, which is packed with political veterans.
- Reuters
