"Difficult" to find the right level of security, says the Japanese Prime Minister recently attacked

April 20, 2023

Finding the “right balance” between the security of elected officials and their proximity to citizens is “very difficult”, said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday, who has just survived an attack with an improvised explosive device.

The protection of politicians has been tightened in Japan since the murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last summer. But that did not stop someone from throwing a pipe bomb at Mr. Kishida last Saturday during a trip to the west of the country.

This incident illustrates “the difficulty of finding the right distance between politicians, candidates and voters”, declared Mr. Kishida during an interview granted to several international media including AFP.

“It’s very difficult to find the right balance,” he concluded.

Mr. Kishida was visiting a small fishing port in Wakayama County (west) last Saturday to support the election campaign of a candidate from his party when a metal cylinder was thrown at him from the crowd.

The Prime Minister had already been evacuated when the machine produced a loud detonation about ten seconds later, without causing any casualties but sowing panic among the people on the spot.

Mr. Kishida called on the Japanese to vote on Sunday in the partial legislative and municipal elections to show their “determination” in the face of violence and to prove to the world that “democracy works” in the country.

“Nothing can justify trying to use violence to stifle speech,” he added. “Elections are the basis of democracy and must never succumb to violence.”

As Japan hosts G7 ministerial meetings this spring and the group’s summit in Hiroshima (west) in a month, Kishida again called for tighter security at these events so that foreign officials can attend. “peace of mind”.

The head of the national police agency, Yasuhiro Tsuyuki, on Thursday praised the citizens and security agents who subdued and arrested the alleged perpetrator of the attack on Mr Kishida immediately after the incident.

However, Mr Tsuyuki said the local police would “re-examine their security practices and ask themselves what more could have been done”.

Police are investigating whether the explosive device that was thrown was potentially lethal. It contained pieces of metal, suspected shards of which were discovered 60 meters from the explosion, according to local media.

The suspect, Ryuji Kimura, 24, was also carrying a knife in a bag, according to Japanese media. He would have refused for the moment to explain his act.

He had been on trial with the government since last year over a rule barring people under 30 like him from standing in elections to the Upper House of Parliament, which took place last summer.

Shinzo Abe’s alleged killer, Tetsuya Yamagami, accused the former prime minister of having close ties to the Unification Church, dubbed the “Moon Sect”, which allegedly led Mr Yamagami’s family to ruin.

According to local media, Ryuji Kimura would also have criticized Shinzo Abe’s alleged links with this religious organization and denounced the state funeral granted to him last September by the government.