While Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was the only one of the G7 leaders unable to visit Ukraine, voices from both the ruling and opposition parties in the Japanese Diet unanimously said, “There is no need for a prior report to the National Assembly for the Prime Minister’s visit to Ukraine.” there is.
According to the Asahi Shimbun on the 28th, Motegi Toshimitsu, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, put forward the position that problems should not arise from prior reporting, saying, “It is natural that sufficient consideration is needed for securing safety and responding to unexpected situations.” Tsuyoshi Takaki, head of the National Assembly Countermeasures Committee of the Liberal Democratic Party, also mentioned the day before, saying, “Considering the current situation, this may not be the case,” saying that approval from the National Assembly is not necessary. Azumi Jun, chairman of the National Assembly Countermeasures Committee of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, also said, “The National Assembly should not be an obstacle to visiting. You just have to go and come back and report properly,” he said.
In Japan, which is a parliamentary system, the prime minister must receive a prior report to the National Assembly if he intends to go abroad during a parliamentary session. In this process, it is inevitable that the overseas visit schedule is exposed to the outside world. It is impossible to visit areas that require strict security, such as Ukraine. The regular Diet session of Japan, which opened on January 23, will continue until June 21.
Japan attaches great importance to Ministers attending and reporting to the Diet. In Japan, it is very unusual for the ruling and opposition parties to unanimously express their opinion that the prime minister does not have to report to the National Assembly.
Recently, foreign minister Hayashi Yoshimasa was unable to attend a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in India, but was hindered by a request from the National Assembly. This not only made it difficult for the foreign ministers of Korea and Japan and the foreign ministers of the Quad (the four countries of the United States, India, Australia, and Japan) to meet, but India, the chair country of the G20 this year, expressed discomfort. The Yomiuri Shimbun analyzed, “Japan is the chair of this year’s G7, and Prime Minister Kishida and Foreign Minister Hayashi have expressed that they will lead the pressure on Russia as the chair of the G7.
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Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.