Tokyo Gov. Masuzoe decides to step down

[Ceewan]

Tokyo Gov. Yoichi Masuzoe has decided to step down over allegations that he misused political funds, sources close to him have told the Mainichi Shimbun.

Masuzoe is poised to submit his resignation to Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly President Shigeo Kawai as early as the morning of June 15.

All seven political parties and factions in the assembly have submitted a no-confidence motion against the governor to the assembly's steering committee. The assembly was expected to approve the motion at a plenary session on the afternoon of June 15.


Seperate source:

Embattled Tokyo Gov. Yoichi Masuzoe will step down over the political funds scandal he is embroiled in, a source in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said Wednesday as the metropolitan assembly prepared to pass a no-confidence motion against him later in the day.

On Tuesday, Masuzoe made a desperate plea to key committee members to grant him a “moratorium” to allow him to stay at the helm at least until the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August, while all parties and factions, including the LDP, filed the motions with the steering committee of the Tokyo assembly.

This apparently led to Masuzoe’s decision to step down. His resignation is likely have a negative effect on Tokyo’s hosting of the Olympics in 2020.

The former health minister first came under fire in April after he was found to have used official cars to travel frequently between Tokyo and his vacation home in neighboring Kanagawa Prefecture and spent more than ¥200 million on nine overseas trips since taking office in February 2014.

What has also fueled anger among the public was his seemingly defiant behavior on the issues at the beginning. He told a Hong Kong reporter at a press conference on April 1, “Will a Hong Kong leader stay at a second-class business hotel? Don’t you think that’s embarrassing?”

He also said visiting his vacation home in the hot springs resort area of Yugawara is important to carry out his job because he can “feel refreshed and keep fit” by going there, where he has a big bath that enables him to “stretch (his) legs.”

 

[CoolKevin]

maybe we should start a thread about the Olympics, and its sites/development and perhaps the possibilities of it future sporting stars, we will leave the political stuff out of the sporting thread

 

[Ceewan]

Well, the upcoming Olympics is in Rio (Go Team USA!) which should be interesting because of the Zika Virus and the posibility of Super Bacteria infections.

Tokyo is getting ready to host the Summer Olympics in 2020...hell I will be lucky to even be alive by then. Nonetheless politics plays a huge part in hosting major events in a city. As distasteful as that may be, it is what it is. Every agency of government is on high alert in the case of the Olympics, from the Sanitation Department to the Tourism Bureau. Security is of course no small affair, as is funding for projects related to the affair (which in this case is the new stadium) and the covering of all extra personnel to deal with...fuck...everything from A to Z. Hosting the summer Olympics is no small headache and an international honor.

So you could seperate threads dealing with the politics and sporting events but I wouldn't omit politics from being mentioned (news concerning politics, individual politics yes, bashing other countries sucks during the Olympics).

It would be nice to have a 2016 Summer Olympics Thread. I don't watch as much of it as I used to but I always catch the Swimming and Gymnastics stuff myself. I wonder if they are going to allow any of that on Youtube?

 

[Ceewan]

Election to pick new Tokyo governor to cost about 5 billion yen

The upcoming election to select the successor to Tokyo Gov. Yoichi Masuzoe, who tendered his resignation on June 15 over a political funds scandal, is likely to cost the local government about 5 billion yen, sparking anger among residents of the capital.

Based on expenses set aside for the previous Tokyo gubernatorial election in February 2014, about 5 billion yen from Tokyoites' tax money is expected to be spent on the upcoming election to choose Masuzoe's successor.

According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Election Administration Commission, about 5 billion yen is needed to hold a Tokyo gubernatorial election and about 4.5 billion yen for a Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election (based on figures for the previous assembly poll in June 2013).

The number of candidates in a Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election far outnumbers that for a Tokyo gubernatorial election. But while the campaign period for a Tokyo gubernatorial election is up to 17 days, that for a Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election is up to nine days. Personnel expenses account for 60 to 70 percent of the estimated total cost. Most of the personnel expenses cover overtime payments to employees of ward and municipal governments who are engaged in attending procedures for early voting and other duties, as well as other relevant expenditures.

Therefore, a Tokyo gubernatorial election costs more than a Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election because its early voting period is longer, local government sources say.