Suga Invisible amid Furor over Tokyo Games Chief's Remarks

Tokyo, Feb. 11 (Jiji Press)--There is no sign of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga having worked to settle the furor over controversial comments by Yoshiro Mori, who has decided to resign as president of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games organizing committee. Opposition parties are accusing Suga of lacking leadership skills, suggesting difficulties for his government management. Mori, who met with a firestorm of criticism for suggesting that women talk too much at meetings, informed people concerned on Thursday of plans to announce resignation at a meeting of the organizing committee the following day. As reasons for quitting, Mori cited a chorus of criticism from Tokyo Games sponsor companies and Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike's decision to skip a four-party meeting among her, Mori, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and Seiko Hashimoto, Japanese minister for the Tokyo Games planned to be held later this month, according to informed sources. Although a number of volunteers and torch relay runners withdrew their registrations to protest Mori's remarks and skepticism grew about the postponed Tokyo Games being held as planned, Suga continued to avoid making proactive efforts to bring the confusion under control. Suga said Mori should not have made the remarks, but held on to the position that the prime minister has no authority to persuade Mori to relinquish his post. A former prime minister, Mori has wide connections in the international community and boasts a relationship of trust with Bach. A senior official of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said Mori was irreplaceable in order for the Tokyo Games to take place this summer after a one-year postponement caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic. Suga is likely to have shared this thinking. In addition, Mori is a political doyen who still wields influence over the largest faction of the LDP. Unaffiliated and with no solid power base within the LDP, Suga apparently thought that moving to force Mori out of the Tokyo Games organizing committee would trigger a backlash from the faction, endangering his standing in the party. A senior government official said Suga seemed to be holding himself back out of respect for the largest LDP faction. After Mori's decision to quit came to light, a person close to Suga said the issue will be brought to a close. But an LDP source is worried that the prime minister may face stronger damage. Opposition parties are on the offensive, focusing on Suga's nonfeasance over Mori's controversial remarks. Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yukio Edano, at an online meeting with local members of the main opposition party on Thursday, criticized Mori's decision to step down as too late. Akira Koike, head of the secretariat of the Japanese Communist Party, said the prime minister needs to reflect deeply on his failure to take action and apologize to the people. Opposition parties are determined to grill Suga at a meeting of the House of Representatives Budget Committee on Monday and other occasions. Mori's exit may have more serious implications for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. If the Tokyo Games are canceled after the resignation of the key coordinator, the Suga government will certainly be shaken. "The prime minister should have persuaded Mori to resign earlier when the damage was lighter," a lawmaker who has once served as a cabinet minister said. "If he had succeeded, there would have been a way to allow Mori to remain somehow in the organizing committee." END