By AYAKO NAKADA/ Staff Writer
September 21, 2022 at 16:17 JST
A former Cabinet member criticized plans to hold a state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and chastised his fellow lawmakers in the ruling party for remaining silent on the issue.
“I can’t agree with the holding of the state funeral,” Seiichiro Murakami, a former minister for administrative reform, told The Asahi Shimbun on Sept. 21.
The Lower House member of the Liberal Democratic Party said he would skip the Sept. 27 event at Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo, saying his attendance there would be like tolerating the problems with the taxpayer-funded ceremony.
“It’s not clear whether Mr. Abe’s achievements are deserving of a state funeral. Since more than half of the public oppose it, forcing the event will further divide the nation,” Murakami said.
He added, “It is disturbing that no LDP members are speaking out on this matter.”
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida decided to go ahead with the state funeral, citing Abe’s longevity as Japan’s leader and his achievements in diplomacy and economics.
Criticism within the party against the state funeral could result in a backlash from Kishida and the faction previously led by Abe, the largest in the LDP.
Murakami, however, has long been known as a harsh critic of Abe.
“Some people see Mr. Abe as a leader who battered Japan’s finances and diplomacy and destroyed its bureaucracy,” Murakami told reporters on Sept. 20. “He should bear a heavy responsibility for that.”
13,000 people brave typhoon to protest state funeral for Abe
September 20, 2022
Izumi: All CDP executives won’t attend state funeral for Abe
September 15, 2022
VOX POPULI: After Britain’s state funeral, attention turns to the one in Tokyo
September 20, 2022
Lack of legal basis halted state funeral for Sato in 1975. But now?
September 8, 2022
Kishida’s words fail to convince; public approval rating plummets
September 13, 2022
EDITORIAL: Kishida’s case for Abe state funeral remains far from convincing
September 9, 2022
Stories about memories of cherry blossoms solicited from readers
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series on the death of a Japanese woman that sparked a debate about criminal justice policy in the United States
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
Seiichiro Murakami, a senior LDP lawmaker and former minister for administrative reform (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
