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© Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.As Diet opens, Suga pledges to get pandemic under control, hold Olympics
By MARI YAMAGUCHI TOKYO©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
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BurakuminDes
Dead man walking.
dbsaiya
Human victory over the coronavirus are lofty but empty words and the vaccine as the "clincher" is also empty and lacks substance.
JCR
Suga man, please stop already, who will ever take him seriously after this anyways. He already lost all credibility in my opinion.
blahblah222
Holding the Olympics is only for Dentsu to make its money. At this point they can just put Dentsu in the annual budget, won't make a difference, all the money will just end up going there anyways.
And the Japan model is pretty much suppress testing to lower reported numbers. I expect testing to be suppressed further leading up to the Olympics and Suga telling the world that Japan have 0 cases of covid thanks to 0 tests.
Derek Grebe
And in my second term I will cure cancer, bring world peace and have monkeys fly out of my bumhole.
What a totally vacuous set of pledges. Why can Japan never find anyone to lead except inept cronies and corrupt dynasties?
Yotomaya
If the Olympics do take place, it will prove a victory of corporate interests against humanity, if anything.
Either way, "pledging" means nothing. If anyone gets the virus under control it's medical experts and the public, not him.
Gaijinshogun
A corporate sock puppet and a broken record...
Bjorn Tomention
Forget the olympics for now, there is more important issues, if the virus situation is brought under control then maybe consider rescheduling the whole olympic cycle so that the next time the games are held is in Tokyo in 2024 and then let the games move on to the next city on a 4 year cycle.
This talk of holding them this year is ridiculous.
GrungeHamster
Talk is cheap Suga, opposition party leaders are right. The LDP is now pushing into human rights violations and gross abuse of power.
At this point the best option is to focus efforts on getting vaccines out. That’s the only hope for Japan and their precious Olympic Games, but even that is a stretch.
AG
So much propaganda with so little action.
Shoganai ne
Monty
fines or imprisonment for those who defy them
How about fines for mask deniers?
Japan-U.S. alliance and to cooperate on the pandemic,
Good idea, especially because the US handled the Virus soooo well.
Zodiac Present
This is complete lunacy that Suga is continuing to try to push the Olympics down the Japanese peoples throats... Enough already!!!
SandyBeachHeaven
I never shed a tear listening to Abe when he was prime rib minister, but this guy just jerks a tear from me like no other.
Ricky Kaminski13
Although keen to see the games go ahead, at this point and looking at the state of the nation and its flip-flop Covid containment measures I just don't see how all of a sudden now they will magically get their act together. With the outright cancellation of the J- Olympics a horrible option, how hard would it be to just move it to 2024, with France picking up the torch four years later? Of course, it would be a difficult pill to swallow for athletes hoping for this year, but it really does seem the simple way forward at this junction!
Luddite
What is this “ample coronavirus protection”? Why aren’t they doing it now.
Fanny Greene
Old boy is out of touch. Get some young blood and new ideas in please.
Bob Fosse
Pledge all you want, you have no power.
Cricky
Might be 50 sit-ups today, he must be vomiting his unpalatable lies make me sick.
spinningplates
Well Mr. Suga, you're going to have to a hell of a lot more than what you've currently done to achieve those goals. get those vaccines rolling out and I'll look a little (very little) more kindly on you and your disgusting Party.
Regarding Suga, he really has the body language of fall guy/caretaker doesn't he? No spark...just dull dead eyes that have already checked out.
Mlodinow
In their new year opening messages, 3 CEOs and basically all the division heads at the Japanese company I used to work at used exactly this "I'll lead the way!" expression, and every year failed to do so and simply followed the market down.
If Suga really has the ability to control the current outbreak, we don't need words we need action. Real, effective action is about a year overdue! The only leading I see him doing is that of his buddies to end of year drinking parties while he tells the rest of us to be home in bed by 8pm.
smithinjapan
Suga ALREADY pledged to get it under control — he has less than two weeks left to make it disappear, according to his vow (glad to see he’s carrying on the weight and honesty of the ‘Japanese vow’). And I hope every single person infected and/or who
dies as a result of his insistence to hold the Olympics equals a lawsuit against and a smear on the nation. Obviously lives are not the priority.
rcch
Forget about the Olympics.
justasking
So, nothing will be done?
Cosmos1
Give the Gold medal to the last person to be inoculated in 2022
ooly
I’ve heard there are plans for a GoToOlympics campaign he’s currently working on in close collaboration with JTB, Dentsu and Asahi. 25% off on tickets and all the Asahi Super Dry you can drink at the Olympic venue.
Do the hustle
Control the virus and hold the Olympics in just a couple of months? Is he a meta human or does he know something we don’t?
kyronstavic
Dunno, Macron has covered himself in a layer of pungent...cheese during his handling of the pandemic. The French could do with an extra four years to sort themselves out. Macron hasn't;t been any more effective than Suga, just looking more suave while he fails.
James
Since he made his promise to get the Corona Virus under control within 1 month His time started on the 7th of February 2021 his time to get it under control by March 7th 2021 is drawing near
Yes you better as your job is at stake I do not mean Steak so stay at home Suga and stop eating out.
mmwkdw
A few days ago we were reading that Foreign Residents who returned to the Country and (accidentally) broke the 14 day quarantine period would have their Residency status revoked... Now they're going to allow a whole bunch of non-residents into the Country from All over the World !?
This is Japanese Politics ingrained face-saving at its worst. I hope the "Native Japanese" (voters) see this, and vote them out.
mmwkdw
Personally I do not see the postponement of the Olympics as any form of shame for the hosting Country in this type of Situation... which is akin to a Global War....in this case - a Global War upon the Pandemic.
I would not be surprised if Athletes from other Countries, sensibly decide not to attend, or if their home Countries decide that the risk of them bringing the Contagion back to their home Countries after the event is too strong.
If Japan continues with the Games... then, they will be biggest loss making ones in History ever , and for years to come... no one in their right minds would attend to spectate, and even giving away free tickets wouldn't see an uptake - you'd have to pay spectators to come...
Can you imagine if one visitor tested positive - the impact ? All those queuing up inline along with that person within a 10 meter radius, would be immediately subjected to quarantine - assuming we could identify them. It'd be a nightmare situation.
No thanks.... You could pay me 1 Million Dollars, and I'd still not go, as I'd end up infecting my Family, and my work Colleagues.... perhaps the backup plan is to just bring in the Homeless, with the enticement of free food and shelter ? (such is the harsh help that Japan offers to those in real need within their own Country).
mmwkdw
Note my swipe at the lack of support for those in real need within Japan. Yet the Country promotes itself at helping those abroad, such as in Africa... Charity should begin at home, and then when it can do so, expand thereafter - right now, I think Japan has a lot of shame internally, the Homeless mentally handicapped upon the streets, the Orphanages full of Children (out of sight... no one talks about them), and those experiencing hard times needing help.. where's the Help from THEIR Government ? Shame! Real SHAME! Especially when it comes to this Olympic Fiasco during a Pandemic !
borscht
Instead of holding the Tokyo Olympics in 2024, why not have them in 2022? The Winter and Summer Olympics used to the same year, why not make an exception back to the Old Normal?
Paris isn't going to toss billions of francs into the Seine just because Tokyo couldn't handle the coronavirus. Twice.
Maybe Suga should start chanting 2022! 2022! Instead of "We'll hold the Olympics! We'll hold the Olympics!"
Richard Gallagher
The Olympic Committee offered to postpone the Olympics until 2022. Abe refused. If he had fulfilled out his term, which ended in the Autumn of 2021, he would have presided over the Olympics and achieved his idea of 'greatness'. Didn't turn out.
Suga, who will be gone and ill-remembered after his departure, wishes to increase his powers aka the powers of his office contrary to existing law. The man was the Brainiac behind GoToTravel, which exacerbated the spread of Coronavirus. Now, he wants to empower himself to punish the populous for his mistake.
Acquiring the vaccine, with all speed, would be the most efficient means to fend off the pandemic. Instead he dithers away spewing maxims and vapid promises.
As for the Olympics, deep-six that monstrosity with all its gross, baroque pageantry and meaningless competition as if such glorifies the nation who bankrolls the winners. It was fine as an amateur event. Now it is the purview of corporate gladiators on the pad for shoe companies.
El Rata
What a weak leader! Step down already, decrepit old man!
Kobe White Bar Owner
@DEREK GREBE
Get your wife to say she had fever headache and muscles pains all night. Then she will get tested. Only way we could get my nurse wife a second test in a hospital covered in COVID, bloods boiling still. Oh but she was given a nice lunch box and as many Monster drinks as she likes, grrrrrrrrrr.
beentofivecontinents
"the Country promotes itself at helping those abroad, such as in Africa..."
This is generally a form of corporate welfare.
sf2k
Sure sure, how you going to hold an Olympics with your hospitals full to capacity and third party testing undermining your every step?? Just cancel, stop the endless uselessness
TARA TAN KITAOKA
No politicians had become God yet.
Muhammad Hamza
If Suga wants to hold Olympics this summer he must extend the lockdown to 10 march and start the vaccination program as early as possible. At least 50 to 60 percent of the Japanese population must get vaccinated and The Players and Match officials should also get vaccinated if you want to hold Olympics and to take another term as PM
ZENJI
Mr Suga is doing a "trump"
The games will be a "Super Spreader" event.
Many will die, and who will be to blame?
Kevin
voiceofokinawa
Even though there is no mention of it in this article, in his general policy speech, an equivalent to a U.S. President's state of union address, Prime Minister Suga repeated his worn-out mantra that he will exert his efforts to have the Futenma air station returned and its replacement built in Henoko as soon as possible.
LOL. Futenma could be returned tomorrow with no condition attached and met if he wanted. See my posts on another thread of "Obama-era veteran Kurt Campbell to lead Biden's Asia policy“ run on Japan Today: Jan. 14