Mio Sugita, the Japanese Parliamentary Deputy Minister for Administrative Affairs and Communications resigned on Tuesday following years of severe criticism for her discriminating remarks against minorities.
As stated by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a press conference, both her request and the resignation of Reconstruction Minister Kenya Akiba have been approved. According to the prime minister, Akiba will be replaced by “Hiromichi Watanabe, who formerly oversaw this division.”
For long years, opposition parties have criticised Sugita for her discriminating remarks against representatives of sexual minorities and the Ainu, the indigenous inhabitants of Hokkaido. She did not reply to many requests to retract her outrageous claims. She did so only at the request of Takeaki Matsumoto, minister of administrative affairs and communications, at the beginning of December.
Three members of the Cabinet, including the Economic Reconstruction Minister Daishiro Yamagiva, the Justice Minister Yasuhiro Hanashi, and the Minister of Administrative Affairs and Communications Minoru Terada, had already resigned as a result of controversies.
The series of resignations occurred against the backdrop of a decline in the ratings of the Japanese government, which has been ongoing since the summer, when the links between deputies of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the Unification Church, which was indirectly involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, came to light. According to public opinion polls, 30% of the population supports the government.
