Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa resigned today, becoming the first Cabinet-level casualty in a widening scandal over conflicting statements about his involvement in questionable stock purchases. ``I have many regrets, but we are not getting anywhere without clearing this deadlock,'' Miyazawa told a news conference after submitting his resignation to Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita. Miyazawa, who is also giving up his position as deputy prime minister, said he is stepping down to help pave the way for passage of sweeping tax reform bills. ``I feel that accomplishing tax reform is my mission and I did not want to stand in the way of completion of the tax reform bills,'' Miyazawa said. ``Personally, I hope the tax reform bills will be passed soon and it doesn't matter what happens to me.'' Takeshita said he would assume Miyazawa's post as finance minister. The prime minister is expected to shuffle his Cabinet in a few weeks, but Takeshita declined to say how long he would hold the finance portfolio. Opposition parties in Parliament have been stalling debate on the tax reform, demanding first that Miyazawa resign. Miyazawa has been under fire for giving conflicting accounts about his alleged involvement in the scandal. One of Miyazawa's former aides bought shares of Recruit-Cosmos Co. before they were registered to trade over the counter, and sold them immediately for a 20 million yen ($163,000) profit. Miyazawa is the most important figure to fall so far in the five-month scandal, which has shaken public confidence and implicated a range of influential figures in business and government. Public support for Takeshita's government has dropped to 18 percent from 30 percent when he assumed office a year ago, according to a survey released today by the mass-circulation newspaper Mainichi Shimbun. But political analysts said the resignation has been anticipated for some time and would have minimal economic and political impact. ``We knew he had to go sooner or later,'' said Masumi Ishikawa, a commentator for the national daily Asahi Shimbun. ``He must have judged politically that now is the right timing to quit to give the impression that he is sacrificing himself for the sake of tax bills, rather than taking blame for the scandal.'' Opposition parties responded to the resignation with mixed signals. Tsuruo Yamaguchi, secretary general of the largest opposition group, the Japan Socialist Party, said the resignation was well overdue, but that his party did not intend to participate in parliamentary debate on the tax reform package. ``Since the finance minister, who is in charge of carrying out the tax reform, resigned, the tax reform bills start again from scratch,'' he said. Komeito, or the Clean Government Party, however, said in a statment that Miyazawa's resignation had cleared the way for full-fledged deliberations on the tax legislation. The legislation, Japan's first sweeping overhaul of its tax system since the end of the World War II, has been a top priority for the Liberal Democratic Party for a decade. Successive administrations have failed to pass the reform due to a lack of public support and strong resistance from opposition parties. Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, under whom Miyazawa also served as finance minister, staked his political career on tax reform and lost. The new package simplifies corporate and personal income tax scales and introduces a 3-percent sales tax.
