Japan is set this week to revise a law that would allow Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to declare a formal state of emergency over COVID-19, if needed, as Abe faces persistent criticism for his handling of the outbreak ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
In perhaps his biggest test since returning to office in 2012, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister has come under fire for what critics have called an initial lack of leadership, followed by abrupt steps, such as school closures that left parents and employers scrambling.
Japan has more than 1,000 cases of the virus, including about 700 from a cruise ship quarantined near Tokyo last month. Fourteen people have died, including seven from the liner.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Among criticisms is that Abe’s government was too slow to put curbs on visitors from China — a key source of economic growth — after the outbreak originated there late last year.
In a recent opinion poll, 50 percent of respondents said they did not approve of Abe’s handling of the outbreak, versus 37 percent who said they did.
Commentators have also said that Japan lacked sufficient capacity to test for the virus, while failing to mobilize what capacity it has, leading to suspicions that the virus is spreading faster than data show.
Vigorous testing programs in countries such as South Korea have detected high numbers of infections.
Speculation — denied by organizers — is swirling that the global outbreak would scupper Japan’s dream of hosting the Tokyo Olympics, an outcome that could become more likely if a state of emergency is declared.
“I want the Olympics to succeed more than anyone, but the negative factors are increasing,” said Yoichi Masuzoe, a former Tokyo governor who was minister of health during a 2009 influenza epidemic.
In its latest move, the government plans to submit to parliament today a bill to revise a 2012 law, enacted after the 2009 epidemic, so that it can be applied to the coronavirus if necessary.
Parliament is expected to sign off on Friday.
The 2012 law was enacted while Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party was the opposition party.
Officials have said that it could not be applied to COVID-19 without changes, although opposition parties and other critics say reinterpreting it is enough.
The law would let the prime minister declare an official state of emergency if the disease poses a “grave danger” to lives and if its rapid spread could have a huge impact on the economy.
The impact of the outbreak is already increasing Japan’s risk of recession.
Governors in hard-hit regions could then ask residents to stay inside, close public facilities, expropriate land and buildings for medical facilities and request or order emergency transport of goods.
The state of emergency could last up to two years with a possible one year-extension.
“Abe could apply the law by re-interpreting it. He’s good at that,” said Masahiro Kami, head of the Medical Governance Research Institute and a critic of the government’s response.
“He wants to appeal [to the public] because things are not going well,” Kami said.
The most urgent issue was not further limits on public activities, but beefing up virus testing and early treatment of elderly and other high-risk patients, he added.
Abe has not made clear what exactly would trigger a state of emergency, yesterday repeating that the revision was to prepare for a “worst-case scenario.”
“I suspect Abe doesn’t want to declare a state of emergency, because it would be killing the Olympics himself,” said Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University.
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
‘NO INTEGRITY’: The chief judge expressed concern over how the sentence would be perceived given that military detention is believed to be easier than civilian prison A military court yesterday sentenced a New Zealand soldier to two years’ detention for attempting to spy for a foreign power. The soldier, whose name has been suppressed, admitted to attempted espionage, accessing a computer system for a dishonest purpose and knowingly possessing an objectionable publication. He was ordered into military detention at Burnham Military Camp near Christchurch and would be dismissed from the New Zealand Defence Force at the end of his sentence. His admission and its acceptance by the court marked the first spying conviction in New Zealand’s history. The soldier would be paid at half his previous rate until his dismissal
RSS