Shigeru Ishiba, president of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), was seen dozing off in parliament on Monday where he was reelected as the prime minister.
Video footage showed Mr Shigeru briefly closing his eyes during a plenary session of the House of Representatives as the votes were being counted, leading to social media comments criticising his apparent drowsiness.
Late on Monday, the government’s top spokesman addressed a news conference to respond to questions about the prime minister’s health.
“The prime minister has been extremely busy working until late into the night, and I understand that he had a cold today and was taking cold medicine,” Yoshimasa Hayashi, the chief cabinet secretary, said. He said that besides the cold “there are no problems with his health”.
Some lawmakers, including a member of the opposition, criticised Mr Shigeru’s behaviour, suggesting it showed a lack of urgency. “If he was really asleep, that shows his marked lack of tension,” the unidentified lawmaker was quoted as saying by Kyodo News.
In the viral video, Mr Hayashi was seen looking at the prime minister with concern during the session on Monday.
Japanese social media was quick to point out that PM Shigeru Ishiba appeared to doze off during Monday’s vote in parliament for a new prime minister.
— Hanako Montgomery (@HanakoMontgome1) November 11, 2024
The reason? Cold medicine, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi, who’s seen in the video beside Ishiba, checking if he’s alright. pic.twitter.com/CY6PX864Vl
In a closely watched parliamentary vote on Monday, Mr Shigeru was confirmed as prime minister, successfully clearing one of the initial challenges for his new administration. This comes after his LDP and its coalition partner Komeito failed to secure a majority in the recent Lower House election.
However, the video of him with his head down and eyes closed quickly overshadowed news of his confirmation, The Japan Times reported, as the clip went viral on the X, attracting numerous critical comments under the hashtag “#Ishibashushonoinemuri” or “#PMIshibaSnoozing”.
Nobuyuki Baba, leader of the Japan Innovation Party (or Nippon Ishin no Kai) said that while he believed Mr Shigeru was undoubtedly tired, his actions were “inappropriate” for the occasion.
“We were holding an election to decide the head of one of the three branches of government, so I think it would be inappropriate for one to take a rest during such an election,” he said.
