Politics

Japanese opposition to bring no-confidence motion against Suga

Tokyo, Jun 14 (EFE).- Japan’s main opposition parties on Monday agreed to bring a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s government for its refusal to extend the ongoing parliamentary session to deal with the pandemic.

The opposition had been urging the government to extend by three months the regular session of the house, set to end on Wednesday, in order to ensure a coordinated response to the coronavirus pandemic from all political parties.

Japan has faced a massive Covid surge over the past few weeks and its largest prefectures continue to be under a state of emergency.

The motion is not likely to be approved by the house as Suga’s conservative Liberal Democratic Party enjoys a comfortable majority along with its alliance partner, the Buddhist party Komeito.

The motion is being launched by the principal opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and will be put to vote in the parliament on Tuesday.

An extension of the parliamentary session would have clashed with the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, set to kick off on Jul. 23.

When asked about the motion by journalists, Suga insisted that fighting coronavirus and ensuring citizens’ safety “as soon as possible” was his government’s priority.

The prime minister said that the two houses of the parliament could be dissolved and general elections could be announced “at any moment” ahead of Oct. 21, when the current legislature completes its term.

Suga had earlier indicated that the elections could be held in September or October, when the Olympics would be over and the majority of the population is expected to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

Suga’s government is experiencing extremely low popularity ratings for months due to its dubious handling of the pandemic and continued support for holding the Games in the Japanese capital despite the pandemic and popular opposition to the event.

A survey released by state broadcaster NHK on Monday showed that 45 percent of the respondents did not back the Suga administration, while 37 percent said they were happy with his leadership. EFE

ahg/ia

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