Political pressure is growing on the Suga administration after details emerged about the Cabinet's role in formulating a controversial request to liquor suppliers that asked them to halt alcohol sales to restaurants flouting COVID-19 guidelines — a development that has put the already embattled prime minister even further on the back foot.
Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister in charge of the coronavirus response, said Wednesday that the government's request that vendors pause sales to establishments continuing to sell alcohol — despite being asked not to do so amid Tokyo's latest state of emergency — had been retracted a day earlier. But the retraction is unlikely to end Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's political headache, as an uproar of criticism has continued to reverberate within the political arena.
Opposition lawmakers are now targeting Suga as well, after it became clear that such requests had been floated by government officials during a meeting of a select group of ministers last week where he was present.