Abe's newly selected Okinawa minister under fire for double gaffe

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Following a double gaffe made just two days after being picked to serve in Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's newly reshuffled cabinet, the opposition camp on Monday called for Tetsuma Esaki, minister in charge of issues related to Okinawa, to be sacked.

Esaki told a press briefing on Saturday that he planned to read prepared scripts composed by government officials, so as not to make mistakes during parliamentary questioning.

Newly appointed Japanese Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs Tetsuma Esaki delivers a speech during a press conference at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo on August 3, 2017. /AFP Photo

Such a method, while being used by ministers, is not generally considered a topic for public discussion, especially via the media.

Esaki's second gaffe was made on the same day in his constituency in Aichi Prefecture in central Japan, where he told a gathering of reporters that he was an "amateur" when it came to issues related to disputed islands off Hokkaido.

Esaki's cabinet portfolio also covers this area.

Having served as a lawmaker for six terms in the lower house of parliament, Esaki, in his first role as a cabinet minister, on Monday apologized for his remarks saying that what he said and what he meant to say to the press were two different things.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks during a press conference at his official residence in Tokyo on August 3, 2017. /AFP Photo

Kazunori Yamanoi, the Diet affairs committee chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party, took aim at Abe on Monday, questioning his selection of Esaki to serve in his cabinet.

"He does not deserve to sit in a cabinet of (so-called) professionals," Yamanoi said, adding that he should be replaced.

The latest LDP-related gaffe comes directly on the heels of Abe reshuffling his cabinet in a bid to restore public faith in his administration, which had fallen to historic lows due to a string of gaffes and scandals connected to his ministers and lawmakers, and also implicating Abe himself.

(Source: Xinhua)