The mayor of a western Japanese city, who witnessed the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, criticized on Thursday the lack of security that culminated in the weekend attack against Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, noting how lessons from the July 2022 shooting had not been learned.
Nara Mayor Gen Nakagawa said it is hard to believe that precautionary measures were seriously lacking before Kishida was about to make a stump speech on Saturday in the city of Wakayama where a man threw an explosive device at the prime minister.
Kishida was uninjured and his attacker was arrested at the scene.
"It's unthinkable to allow an unspecified number of people into the venue without any bag checks, and to let them near an incumbent prime minister," Nakagawa said.
Nakagawa was standing close to Abe when he was fatally shot last July during a stump speech in the city of Nara last July ahead of the upper house elections.
"There may have been an assumption that (an attack) is unlikely to happen, or that restricting activities were unrealistic," he added. "But it's a matter that could significantly affect the fate of the country."
Kishida's ruling Liberal Democratic Party told its prefectural branches that stump speeches should be made from the roof of campaign vehicles and that measures should be taken to prevent possible attacks.
The Nara mayor said such countermeasures should have been implemented immediately after Abe's assassination.
The attack on Kishida was made as cities across Japan prepare to hold elections for mayors and assembly members on April 23.
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