The surprise announcement by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga September 3 that he would step down and would not run in the ruling party’s leadership election September 29 makes him the first world leader to become a political casualty for his inept handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. He is also paying the price of removing scholars critical of his performance from a government panel which did not go down well with the people. Many heads of states have miserably failed to rise to the occasion and saw thousands die and millions affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Obviously, Suga has shown the honesty to concede he found it too difficult to run his government and at the same time lead the fight against the pandemic from the front. He has told his people that from now on he would concentrate only on tackling Covid-19. Harking back to news reports, Japan seemed to have fared well in its battle against Covid-19. It is unlikely that, like India, Japan was distorting its figures of infections and deaths.
Those who observe the Japanese establishment’s behavior, that is one country which has a reputation of being honest with its data. However, Suga’s major goof-up could have been not only permitting but pushing for the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Again, to look back to the recent past, news reports clearly indicated a huge increase in Covid-19 infections during the Olympics. Reports of infections within the Olympics village in the early days came as no surprise to anyone.
Japan PM Suga stepping down is an indication of honesty that is inherent in Japanese society. On the other hand, the behavior of most other world leaders in countries ravaged by the coronavirus and the abject failure due to mismanagement has demonstrated how, globally, politicians cling to power without concern for the citizens. Suga stands head and shoulders above the rest.