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Protesters gather against the state of emergency

Shinjuku anti-emergency protestors (ANJ photo)
Shinjuku anti-emergency protestors (ANJ photo)
Shinjuku anti-emergency protestors (ANJ photo)
Shinjuku anti-emergency protestors (ANJ photo)
Shinjuku anti-emergency protestors (ANJ photo)
Shinjuku anti-emergency protestors (ANJ photo)
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12 Jan 2021 01:01:36 GMT9
12 Jan 2021 01:01:36 GMT9

Arab News Japan

TOKYO: About 20 demonstrators gathered in Shinjuku to protest against the new state of health emergency which came into effect from January 7 and will continue until February 8.

Even though the Japanese government, through its Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, has declared that the state of health emergency is in progress, for the state of emergency to be fully effective, it requires constitutional changes and approval of Parliament. A session on this topic is scheduled for January 19, 2021.

Under the current state of the Japanese constitution, measures restricting freedoms, such as assembly, and guaranteeing free enterprise are guaranteed by law under the aegis of the constitution.

Shops, restaurants and supermarkets remain open after 8pm and teleworking is not systematic, leading to worrying increases in contamination in the Tokyo region and neighboring prefectures.

The Prime Minister has planned a series of coercive measures which protesters denounce as obstructing the fundamental freedoms of a democracy that guarantees human rights.

In a joint statement, protesters point to government contradictions such as having dinner for more than six people while the government advises people not to eat out, and promoting the campaign “go to travel” and “go to eat” to revive the restaurant and hotel economy.

Protesters insist that patients should not be criminalized as provided for in the new bill and that restaurant owners who face rent payment problems and are forced to lay off their staff should not be criminalized, as well as precarious employees who have no other choice but to go by public transport to their workplace.

Finally, the demonstrators are asking the prefectural and national governments for free PCR tests and long-term responses to ensure the crisis does not become a medical collapse.

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