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FILE PHOTO: Yoshihide Suga, Prime Minister of Japan, speaks during a joint press conference with Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia, at Suga’s official residence in Tokyo, Japan on November 17, 2020. Kiyoshi Ota / Pool via REUTERS
TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has come under fire for joining the year-end meetings after pleading with the public to avoid the holidays as the country grapples with a record number of coronavirus cases.
Suga became prime minister in September, but he hasn’t had much of a honeymoon as public frustration mounts with rising coronavirus infections and various disputes that have started raising questions about how long he could keep the job. .
Despite warning the public to avoid large gatherings, Suga has attended several in the past week, drawing criticism on social media and from politicians, including allies in his coalition.
“As long as they ask people to restrain themselves, they eat high-quality steaks and are living it,” opposition member of parliament Jun Azumi told reporters, referring to a dinner Monday at a Tokyo steakhouse. which Suga attended.
“Public support can collapse,” Azumi said.
One of those who attended the dinner, actor Ryotaro Sugi, 76, told reporters outside the restaurant that it was a “year-end party” and that they had talked about baseball.
Suga has not explained the steak dinner, one of several meetings he recently joined, but government spokesman Katsunobu Kato said the government took criticism seriously that Suga’s activities had “caused misunderstandings.” among the public.
“It is important to make individual decisions based on a balance between the purposes of group meals and infection control measures,” Kato told a regular news conference.
More worrisome for the prime minister could be veiled criticism from the ruling party’s junior partner Komeito, with his relationships already under pressure over a dispute over medical bills for the elderly.
“The prime minister’s calendar sends a message to the people, so I would like to see it duly considered,” said Komeito party leader Natsuo Yamaguchi.
A source close to Komeito was more blunt: “There is a widening gulf” between the parties, the source, who declined to be named, told Reuters.
This week, the prime minister was forced to make a U-turn on a government travel subsidy program aimed at supporting domestic tourism and helping small businesses that he had long championed.
Critics have blamed the program for encouraging travel that has helped spread the coronavirus across Japan. Suga suspended him during the end of the year holidays.
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