“Former Secretary General Akira Amari speaks of his bitterness at a meeting closed to the media.
"The reason for his defeat was the campaign to have him eliminated from the race from all over Japan.
“I was consoled by Taro Aso, the vice president, who said, ‘The party as a whole has won, so you shouldn’t quit. But this (resignation) is my pride as a politician.
Akira Amari, 72, former secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), spoke at a banquet in a hotel in Nagata-cho, Tokyo, on November 5. As you know, Mr. Amari was unsuccessful in the primary election for the House of Representatives on October 31. A reporter from a national newspaper said.
A reporter from a national newspaper said, “The secretary general is the person in charge of elections, and during the election period, he or she is in a position to go to all the constituencies in the country to provide support, while neglecting his or her own election. This is the first time since the introduction of the constituency system in 1996 that an incumbent secretary general has not been elected.
Mr. Amari resumed his post as secretary-general on November 4 after this “disastrous” defeat, although he was able to win back his proportional district. This magazine reported on allegations that Mr. Amari, who assumed the post of secretary general on October 1, had been using orchids sent as congratulatory gifts to other Diet members. Only about a month later, he was forced to step down as secretary general. The day after his resignation, Mr. Amari gave an impassioned speech at a hotel banquet hall. One of the attendees of the meeting said.
“On that day, Mr. Amari was holding a breakfast study session, or ‘morning meeting. The meeting was attended by about 200 people, including supporters and business people. In most cases, Mr. Amari only speaks for about 15 minutes at the beginning of the meeting, and then other members of the Diet are invited to speak as lecturers. But on this day, Mr. Amari talked for about 60 minutes straight.
He must have had a lot of things he wanted to talk about. Looking back on his election campaign, Amari complained, “The reason for my defeat was that the whole country was talking about me.
“The reason for my defeat was the campaign to have me eliminated from the election from all over Japan. The Communist Party and others spread fake news on social media and distributed fliers to every door. We were down by 15% in the early stages of the race, and we could not recover. Taro Kono and Shinjiro Koizumi are probably the only two candidates in Kanagawa who can make up that difference.
Perhaps stressed out by the news of his own failure in the primary election, Amari turned to the mass media.
“The members of ‘Team Amari’ who have worked hard so far occupied key positions in this cabinet. When I say this, the media immediately write ‘Amari’s appointment’ again. The media has been deteriorating lately, and all they do is fry people. Just as the media doesn’t do its job by only looking at the ratings, I want the companies that sponsor them to take a good look at the quality of their reporting and broadcasting.
Mr. Amari continued to complain, but it is said that those in the LDP have not stopped complaining about him. A Liberal Democratic Party official said.
“It was reported that Mr. Amari had sent LDP staffers to his constituency for a ‘phone operation’ during the election period, which drew a lot of heat. But that’s not all. The LDP has a campaign car that is owned by the party, and Amari took it to her constituency during the election. Some people complained, saying, ‘I can’t believe he’s the secretary general.
After the morning meeting, I interviewed Mr. Amari directly in front of the venue.
It’s Friday.
When I called out to Mr. Amari, he said, “What?” and turned away, walking toward the exit.
There is a story that other candidates were troubled by your use of the LDP campaign car during the election.
“No, I hardly ever use them.”
–Some say that she used party staff for a “telephone campaign.
“No, I didn’t.”
He did not look at the reporter and got into his car quickly.
Tetsuo Suzuki, a journalist, spoke.
“There are many reasons why he lost the primary election, but the most important one is that the voters felt that he had not fulfilled his accountability in the face of the scandal of the alleged hush money scandal. If he doesn’t reexamine his own accountability for the politics and money issues, even if he gets a chance to return to power, I think it will be difficult for him to stand on the stage.
Instead of complaining, he should properly face his own defeat.
“From the November 26, 2021 issue of FRIDAY
Photo by： Junsei Todoroki (1st), Takeshi Kinugawa (2nd)
