Opposition Seeks Dismissal of Govt Official over N-Arms Remark

Tokyo, Dec. 19 (Jiji Press)–Japanese opposition parties on Friday urged Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to dismiss a senior government official who has said that the country should possess nuclear weapons. The government has emphasized that it remains committed to the three nonnuclear principles of not possessing nuclear weapons, not producing them and not permitting their entry into the country. It plans to monitor public reaction closely while waiting for the situation to settle. Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, pointed out at a press conference that Takaichi has not explicitly said she stands by the three principles. She has previously called for reviewing the principle of not permitting the entry of nuclear weapons into Japan. “It’s problematic that someone with such ideas is close to the prime minister,” Noda said of the senior official. “He or she should step down as soon as possible.” Yoshitaka Saito, CDP parliamentary affairs chief in the House of Councillors, also called on Takaichi to remove the official. Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito, whose House of Representatives constituency includes the western city of Hiroshima, which was devastated by a U.S. atomic bomb in the closing days of World War II, criticized the senior official’s comment as a “serious statement deserving a dismissal.” “It’s absolutely unforgivable,” said Japanese Communist Party leader Tomoko Tamura. “(The official) should be dismissed immediately.” The prime minister should declare that she will strictly observe the three nonnuclear principles as national policy, Tamura added. On the government side, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara repeatedly said at a press conference that the Takaichi administration firmly upholds the principles. He refrained from giving the government’s view on the senior official’s remark, however, and from commenting on whether the official will be removed. “Government officials should refrain from expressing their personal opinions lightly,” former Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, a member of Takaichi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said, calling on the prime minister to respond appropriately. Meanwhile, Taro Kono, also former defense minister and a member of the LDP, posted on X, formerly Twitter, that “a conclusion should be reached after a discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of possessing nuclear weapons,” slamming the trend of making discussions on nuclear possession a taboo. Only some LDP members have called for the removal of the senior official. The official told reporters Thursday that Japan should possess nuclear weapons, given the increasingly severe security environment surrounding the country. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]