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Cabinet Public Relations Secretary Makiko Yamada, who had received a lot of entertainment from Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s eldest son, resigned on the 1st, and the Prime Minister apologized: “I’m very sorry for the inconvenience.” The prime minister continued to oust Mr. Yamada even after the entertainment was found to be a violation of the National Civil Service Ethics Act, and avoided the press conference that Mr. Yamada was supposed to host on February 26. , but ended up quitting. After misinterpreting the seriousness of the entertainment problem, the administration’s perspective became clear again after the response to Corona. (Mikihiko Ueno)
◆ “Optimism” to “survive”
“I don’t think I was left behind.” The prime minister argued at the official residence on the night of the 1st when journalists asked him to deal with Mr. Yamada’s forward and backward problems.
The problem that Mr. Yamada received around 74,000 yen in food and drink entertainment from Tohokushinsha, where Mr. Masatake works, was discovered in February. Mr. Yamada announced that he would take responsibility for the voluntary return of salary, but the prime minister paid close attention and emphasized that he “looks forward to you as a public relations official.” Immediately after, on the 26th, when it was decided to partially cancel the emergency declaration for the new coronavirus, the press conference, which was once preparing for the event, was postponed.
The opposition criticized “Mr. Yamada is in hiding”, but within the administration, “Mr. Yamada has already apologized and expressed remorse. It’s okay to be proud” (government official), and there is a view that he can overcome the trouble. Was strong. The prime minister declared that the Yamada problem and the press conference “were not related at all.”
◆ Irritability, the interview fails
Instead, the prime minister was interviewed by a group of reporters, and when asked repeatedly about the need for a press conference and Mr. Yamada’s problems, he gradually became frustrated. “Isn’t he answering what I need?” “Isn’t it just the same question?” It was broadcast, and the opposition as “throw” and “not good” was spread on the Internet.
In the end, the public’s understanding of the administration’s response to the crown did not deepen enough. Yuichiro Tamaki, the representative of the Democratic People’s Party, told the House Budget Committee on Day 1: “The only thing that impressed me was the word ‘let go’ and the prime minister’s grumpy face. It is valuable to tell people what to expect. I lost the opportunity. ”
◆ Impression of “running away” without a sense of ownership
During his time as Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, the Prime Minister appointed Mr. Masatake as secretary and Mr. Yamada as public relations officer when he took office. However, after the entertainment problem was discovered, the avoidance attitude of dating responsibility and accountability is evident.
In the initial parliamentary response when the problem was reported, he and Mr. Masatake were separated from each other as “different personalities”. In a later investigation, he apologized for “apologizing to the people” when Mr. Masatake’s entertainment was confirmed to the Interior and Communications Ministry executives, but “did not know (entertainment) at all.” of the Interior and Communications “And so on, he repeated the answer that he lacked a sense of belonging.
Even in the House Budget Committee on the 1st, Kazunori Yamai of the Constitutional Democratic Party insisted that “without the prime minister’s son, excellent bureaucrats cannot receive illegal entertainment,” but the prime minister said, “No I should say so. ” I did not respond from the front.
In a poll conducted by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun from February 26 to 28, 69% of respondents answered that they were “not convinced” on the topic of entertainment, which was much higher than 17% of those “convinced”. Yukio Edano, the representative of the Constitutional Democratic Party, criticized journalists on the 1st, saying: “There is no news about the prime minister as a politician in a series of events. I have to say that he is on the run.”
