Lawmakers from the largest opposition party went on the attack against Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday, demanding the new leader explain why his predecessors¡¯ coronavirus responses and economic policies failed, while at the same time offering counterproposals of their own to differentiate themselves ahead of a general election.
In the first debate at the national legislature, Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) leader Yukio Edano rebuked Japan¡¯s ¡°complete failure¡± over its delay in imposing entry restrictions on people arriving from mainland China in the early stage of the pandemic. Criticizing the government¡¯s move to shorten the self-isolation period at government-designated facilities to either three or six days, Edano proposed a 10-day stay and three rounds of PCR testing as an alternative.
Edano also railed at previous administrations¡¯ shortcomings in beefing up the nation¡¯s medical resources, expanding PCR testing and facilitating a quick vaccine rollout. The opposition party leader criticized Kishida¡¯s plan to strengthen the chain of command in the realm of crisis management as ¡°devoid of specifics.¡±
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