PM Abe’s Facebook row with opposition politician draws mixed reaction

11 years ago | Posted in: Latest Politics News | 777 Views

While Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has enjoyed a sense of online popularity due to his liberal and open use of his Facebook page, a recent row with an opposition politician has drawn mixed reaction from fellow politicians and netizens. Some question whether he is really Internet savvy, while others say arguments with opposing politicians are part and parcel of social networks and politics.

Hitoshi Tanaka, a former diplomat who played a leading role in 2002 for the negotiations with North Korea over the return of several Japanese abductees from the 70s, said in a newspaper interview that Abe’s views on wartime history and his desire to revise the constitution is seen as a “rightward tilt” by the international community. Abe defended himself on his Facebook wall by bringing into question Tanaka’s credibility due to his statement 11 years ago that the abductees should be returned to North Korea eventually. Abe called that a “a decisive mistake for a diplomat” and therefore he is already unqualified to give his opinion on diplomatic matters.

Goshi Hosono, the Secretary-General of opposition Democratic Party of Japan, criticized the Prime Minister for singling out an individual in such a public forum and said that he is worried that the former diplomat’s reputation has already been damaged by Abe calling him “unqualified”. And even while in Poland, Abe responded by saying Hosono is trying to silence his rebuttal of Tanaka’s opinion, triggering a back and forth “argument” with Hosono on their respective Facebook walls.

Other politicians gave their opinion on the row, with Economy Minister Akira Amari putting Abe’s posts as a high-strung reaction to critics, while Shinjuro Koizumi, the son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Abe should just let it go and instead focus on “getting results.” Taku Sugawara, an associate professor of political science at the University of Tokyo says that politicians have the tendency to use the Internet as a way of answering their critics, instead of using it strategically to get their message across to voters. And Abe, with his 367,000 followers, plus an additional 20,000 more during this whole episode, considers his Facebook page his “safe haven” against critics and opposition lawmakers.

source: japandailypress

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