Japan Press Weekly

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2017 April 26 - May 9 [POLITICS]

Shii: Both LDP and Abe administration causing moral collapse

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on April 27 at a press conference in the Diet building said that it is unacceptable for the ruling party’s secretary general to defend a Cabinet minister who resigned after insulting victims of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

Former Reconstruction Minister Imamura Masahiro belongs to a Liberal Democratic Party faction headed by the party’s secretary general Nikai Toshihiro. Regarding news coverage of Imamura’s resignation and his abusive remarks hurled toward the victims, Nikai criticized the mass media for blowing a minor mistake all out of proportion, showing his intent to make no apology to the victims.

Shii pointed out, “Nikai as the de facto head of the ruling party protected Imamura. This shows a further decline in the LDP moral level.” He condemned Nikai, saying “Although he is a person in a responsible position, he overlooked Imamura’s thoughtless behavior and instead blamed the media for driving Imamura to resign.”

Shii also noted that regarding the land-sale scandal involving an Osaka-based school operator, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is rejecting the demand to summon his wife, Akie, to testify in the Diet while the couple is strongly suspected of culpability in the scandal. Shii said that PM Abe’s moral collapse has brought about the further corruption of moral values among the Cabinet and the LDP leadership.