Governor Motohiko Saito of Hyogo Prefecture is being sidelined by both the Diet and prefectural government staff.

Will he be able to find a way to drop the matter?

On December 6, Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito, 47, was at the Hyogo Prefectural Office in Kobe City. He was there to face a representative question at the December regular session of the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly, his first since being reelected. Perhaps he was tense before meeting the assembly, but there was a moment when he glared at a FRIDAY cameraman who had arrived at the site to cover the meeting. When asked a tough question, he seemed to have a “no-nonsense” look on his face. When asked a tough question, he gave his answer with a blank expression on his face.

As is well known, a criminal complaint was filed against Governor Saito and the president of a PR firm that claimed to have been “in charge of all public relations activities” during the recent gubernatorial election, alleging violation of the Public Offices Election Law. In response, Takashi Tachibana, 57, declared that he would file a counter complaint on the charge of false accusation, and confusion continues even now, about a month after his reelection.

The report of the ongoing Hyakujo Committee was scheduled to be compiled by the end of this year, but since Governor Saito was absent from the witness examination due to his attendance at the National Governors’ Association, it is likely to be carried over to the beginning of the new year. A Hyogo Prefecture official expressed his distrust of Governor Saito to FRIDAY.

He has been throwing new allegations to his deputy. Recently, he has been coming to the office through the back door, as if he is wary of the media. I think Governor Saito is going to run away with the victory by not holding himself accountable. ……

One prefectural assembly official confided, “Governor Saito is a one-man operation.

Governor Saito is trying to reach a compromise with the staff with his “one team” policy, but there are many staff members who say that the priority is to have the facts clarified by the Hyakujokuhyaku Committee. The prefectural assembly still has a majority in the anti-Saito faction and has no intention of voluntarily dissolving itself. If the prefectural assembly is so sidelined, the governor will have no choice but to compromise. ……

Will the governor, whose reelection has further confused prefectural politics, be able to find a way out of the mess? Will he be able to find a compromise? The spinning continues.

From the December 27, 2024 issue of FRIDAY