Japan PM apologises for lawmakers' night club outings flouting COVID-19 emergency

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on January 26 apologised to the people of Japan after lawmakers from his ruling coalition visited nightclubs despite the COVID-19 situation in the country. According to Kyodo news agency, Suga’s party members visited hostess bars in Tokyo's posh Ginza district late at night, flouting the coronavirus state of emergency imposed to curb the rising infections in the city. Suga’s acting chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's Diet Affairs Committee, and Kiyohiko Toyama, acting secretary-general of Komeito, the junior coalition partner of Suga's LDP, admitted to the violation of the health safety protocols and visiting the night clubs las week at a state press conference. 

"I'm sorry to the people”, Suga told Parliamentary meeting adding that people, including the lawmakers, were expected to adhere to the health protocols put lawfully in place. Only last week, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced that he will likely extend the state of emergency for parts of the country that are witnessing the alarming surge of the COVID-19 cases. The restrictions prohibit the citizens from all nonessential movements and visiting the restaurants, clubs, and bars after the government shortened opening hours for such public creational and entertainment outlets.

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Emergency effective until Feb.7

The current deadline for the emergency is Feb. 7. However, Suga’s administration, according to Japan Times sources, has been planning to extend the restrictions in prefectures — Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama, Tochigi, Aichi, Gifu, Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, and Fukuoka due to overburdening of the healthcare system with COVID-19 admissions. 

Japan’s minister in charge of Japan's COVID-19 response Taskforce, additionally, informed at the parliamentary committee meeting on Tuesday that the government will make an advance announcement about further extensions of the restrictions. Amid the criticism for flouting own government’s rules, ruling Liberal Democratic Party ministers told Japan’s Daily Shincho magazine that their visiting the night club was a ‘careless’ approach. Another lawmaker, Kiyohiko Toyama issued an official public apology to the citizens via the Japanese Daily Shukan Bunshun.

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