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TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s abrupt decision to partially pause a domestic travel campaign amid mounting COVID-19 cases, after insisting it would go ahead, appears to cost him support and may cloud his chances of a term long-term.
Suga, who took the top job in September after Shinzo Abe resigned due to illness, has enjoyed strong ratings of more than 50 percent, fueled by a realistic leader image pushing popular policies like lower mobile phone rates.
But critics said his reversal of a program he has backed to boost the economy, even as new cases skyrocketed, was too little, too late, and risked leaving the image of a stubborn and indecisive leader without the due. public health care.
“It’s a show of indecision that gives people a lot of reason to be resentful,” said Sophia University professor Koichi Nakano. “At this point, (the government) still sounds like they don’t know what they are doing.”
Abe’s own supportive ratings never recovered after giving in to the public perception that his response to the pandemic was clumsy and slow.
Suga is currently serving Abe’s remaining term until next September, and must win a leadership race from the then ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to remain prime minister.
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The policy blunder threatens his position just two months into his tenure as prime minister, with tougher tests ahead, including the extent to which COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to rise, and whether Tokyo can host the Olympic Games in summer postponed to 2021.
“Their ratings will go down, almost certainly,” said independent political analyst Atsuo Ito, pointing to the delay in partially pausing the campaign. “The view can be spread that he prioritizes keeping the economy running over protecting people’s lives.”
In brief comments last Saturday (Nov 21), after the three-day vacation began, Suga said the government would suspend new travel bookings to the areas most affected by COVID-19 under its Go To Travel program, that subsidizes tourism.
Critics of the show have said it risks spreading the coronavirus from major cities to the countryside.
On Tuesday, the government said Osaka and the city of Sapporo in Hokkaido would be excluded as target destinations in the travel subsidy program. No decision has been made on the capital of Tokyo.
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Government officials have repeatedly said that traveling by itself does not spread infections if measures such as the use of face masks are taken.
However, Kyoto University professor Hiroshi Nishiura, an infectious disease expert and member of a government advisory board, said it was clear that increased movement of people increased the risk of infection.
Experts who advised the government, which on Friday finally urged a partial hiatus in the Go To Travel program, had been “somewhat forced” to accept policies to help the economy despite increased health risks, he told Reuters.
Opposition parties, which also link Suga to an alleged Abe funding scandal, quickly weighed in with criticism.
“The timing of the announcement was too late, and both the timing and the target areas are unclear,” Tetsuro Fukuyama, secretary general of the opposition Democratic Constitutional Party of Japan, said on television.
Suga’s long-term future depends on the outcome of a general election that must be held before October 2021.
“If the PLD loses too many seats, it can be held responsible,” said University of Tokyo political science professor Yu Uchiyama.
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