Japan's main opposition Democratic Party and three smaller parties demanded Wednesday that Defense Minister Tomomi Inada be dismissed over a remark they say amounts to making political use of the Self-Defense Forces to attract support for a candidate in the upcoming Tokyo metropolitan assembly election.
"Her comment, which conflicts with the SDF law, was out of line and she should resign immediately," Democratic Party leader Renho told reporters in Tokyo. "Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bears responsibility for having appointed her."
Inada had asked voters to back a candidate of her Liberal Democratic Party in a stump speech Tuesday, saying the request came from "the Defense Ministry, the SDF, the defense minister and the LDP." Hours later, she told reporters she will "withdraw" the comment because it could be "misunderstood."
The minister has said she does not intend to resign over the remark.
Under the law governing the country's defense apparatus, the SDF is meant to remain politically neutral and its personnel are restricted in their ability to engage in political activities.
The LDP is hoping to remain the largest party in the metropolitan assembly when Tokyo voters go to the polls this Sunday but faces an uphill battle against a new party formed by popular Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike. The ruling party is also under fire over recent favoritism allegations against Abe in connection with a university project involving a close friend.
Koike told reporters Tuesday the minister's remark was "inconceivable," adding Inada should not have been confused about the SDF's position. Koike herself briefly served as defense minister in 2007 during Abe's first turn at power.
Abe has cautioned Inada over the remark but asked her to stay on, the government's top spokesman said Wednesday.
"The prime minister gave her the same instruction that I did...(we) want her to fulfill her responsibility to explain herself as a minister, and continue to perform her role," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference.
Suga insisted Inada's conduct will have no impact on the Tokyo assembly election, on envisaged debate on constitutional reform or on the timing of Abe's next Cabinet reshuffle. The prime minister is thought to be considering a change in the Cabinet lineup at some point later this year.
In a joint statement released Wednesday, the leaders of the opposition Democratic Party, Japanese Communist Party, Social Democratic Party and Liberal Party urged Abe to fire Inada over her remark, which they said flouted the law on elections to public offices as well as the SDF law.
"Why did she treat SDF personnel like a cheerleading squad for the LDP?" Renho said at a Tokyo assembly election rally.
"(Inada) herself is saying she won't resign, so there's no choice but for the prime minister to dismiss her," JCP leader Kazuo Shii told reporters Wednesday.
The opposition party leaders also agreed to demand Thursday that House of Representatives Speaker Tadamori Oshima, an LDP lawmaker, ask Abe to convene an extraordinary Diet session to debate Inada's conduct. The parliament is not currently sitting, with the last ordinary session having come to an end on June 18.
A source close to the prime minister's office, meanwhile, suggested that Inada is not likely to be swapped out prior to the next Cabinet overhaul.
Abe made Inada defense minister in a reshuffle in August last year. She is known for having conservative views close to those of the prime minister.
She regularly visited Yasukuni Shrine, a Shinto shrine in Tokyo seen overseas as a symbol of Japan's past militarism, before assuming her Cabinet post and went again late last year immediately after accompanying Abe to Hawaii for a visit to Pearl Harbor.
Inada is set to take part in ministerial security talks in Washington next month with Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
