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TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga apologized on Wednesday after lawmakers from his ruling coalition visited nightclubs despite his government’s call for people to avoid unnecessary outings to slow the spread of COVID-19. .
The news is another headache for Suga, whose approval rating has fallen due to dissatisfaction with his handling of the pandemic, which critics have called too slow and inconsistent.
“I am very sorry that this happened when we asked people not to eat out after 8 pm and to avoid non-essential and non-urgent departures,” Suga told parliament.
“Every legislator must behave to gain the understanding of the public.”
Japan this month issued a state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas to control a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases. The measure includes a request that restaurants and bars close before 8 pm, although there are currently no penalties for non-compliance.
“My behavior was careless at a time when we asked people to be patient,” Jun Matsumoto, a senior lawmaker from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, told reporters.
Matsumoto spoke after a report by Daily Shincho magazine that he had visited two nightclubs in Tokyo’s posh Ginza district after having dinner at an Italian restaurant last Monday.
Kiyohiko Toyama, a lawmaker for the coalition’s junior partner Komeito, also apologized after the Shukan Bunshun tabloid reported that he had visited a high-end nightclub in Ginza until last Friday.
Twitter users expressed frustration.
“It’s only a matter of time before public anger erupts. I don’t want a 100,000 yen ($ 965) cash payment, I want them to quit!” Wrote one user.
“They’re really stupid. Don’t they think about what they’re doing and how the public sees them? If they don’t, they’re not qualified to represent the public,” said another.
(Reporting by Yoshifumi Takemoto and Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Chris Gallagher and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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