Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe broke a nearly week-long silence yesterday and apologized for sexist taunts shouted by a party member at a young Tokyo assemblywoman, reports said.
The apology, issued to the male head of the woman’s opposition party, according to Jiji Press and the Asahi Shimbun, came hours after he issued a blog on the importance of improving the low rate of female workplace participation.
In the post, Abe called for women to “shine,” but made no mention of the episode.
Photo: EPA
Tokyo Assemblyman Akihiro Suzuki, 51, on Monday admitted he had yelled: “Why don’t you get married?” at Ayaka Shiomura, 35, last week when she was speaking in the chamber during a debate on motherhood.
After days of denials, Suzuki said he was responsible and apologized to Shiomura as he resigned his membership of Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
Hours after the apology his office pelted with raw eggs and his Facebook page was flooded with comments critical of his behavior.
Shiomura was questioning senior figures in the Tokyo administration on plans to help mothers when abuse erupted from seats occupied by LDP members.
Suzuki’s shout was captured on tape, while some of those in the chamber said they had also heard laughter and taunts such as: “Are you not able to have a baby?”
Shiomura told foreign reporters in Tokyo yesterday that other assembly members had also joined in the jeering.
“I believe the assembly could successfully implement policies by increasing the number of female lawmakers and listening to their voices,” she said.
Abe’s apology, delivered yesterday to Your Party leader Keiichiro Asao, did not directly address the nature of the incident.
“Sorry for the inconvenience at the Tokyo assembly,” he told Asao during a round of greetings to each party leader at the end of the parliamentary session.
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