Japan's Opposition Blasts Prime Minister Kishida For Appointing Son As Secretary

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th October, 2022) Japan's Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) and other opposition parties criticized on Wednesday the decision of Prime Minister Kishida Fumio to appoint his eldest son Shotaro, 31, as his executive secretary on political matters.

"Prime Minister Kishida grew up in a family with a natural inheritance, so you may think this appointment is natural, but in a word, it is an anachronism," Jun Azumi, chairman of the CDP countermeasures parliamentary committee, told a press conference, as quoted by the Kurdo news agency.

The appointment has also been criticized by other opposition parties, with Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the Democratic Party for the People, saying that the prime minister "has just shown favoritism toward relatives.

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Media reported on Tuesday that Kishida appointed his son Shotaro as his executive secretary, one of the prime minister's eight personal secretaries. Kishida Shotaro worked as a secretary in the office of the prime minister since March 2020 and at private trading company Mitsui & Co. before that.

Japanese government officials insisted that the decision to appoint the prime minister's son as his secretary was based solely on Kishida Shotaro's "personality and insight."

Japan's leader has been facing mounting criticism amid growing living costs and scandal over his ties with the Unification Church, which has drawn attention of the law enforcement due to its controversial and non-transparent fundraising methods.