TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister SUGA Yoshihide refused to give a clear answer to a parliamentary question on Monday about what conditions relating to the coronavirus pandemic will be necessary for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics to be held this summer.

“Our top priority is to make every effort to lift the current state of emergency (over the pandemic),” Suga said at a meeting of the House of Councillors’ Audit Committee.

The prime minister was answering a question from Shunichi Mizuoka of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan on how much the pandemic situation needs to improve to allow the Tokyo Games to be held safely.

“We believe the precondition for the games is that we’ll work to allow athletes from around the world to participate with a sense of security, as well as protect the (Japanese) people’s lives and health,” Suga stressed.

“If we can’t protect (the people), we would certainly not host the games,” he added.

At the Upper House committee meeting, CDP Secretary-General Tetsuro Fukuyama claimed that the Olympics and Paralympics could let overseas coronavirus variants enter into Japan, increase movements of people and further strain medical services.

“We want the government to present criteria (for holding the games) that everyone can accept,” Fukuyama stressed.

The opposition lawmaker said the government should ask its coronavirus advisory panel to consider conditions for holding the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

Economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura sounded negative about the suggestion, saying that the advisory panel is not supposed to discuss whether the games should take place or not.

The panel’s chairman, Shigeru Omi, has repeatedly warned of a possible rise in infection risks during the event.

Attending the same committee meeting, Omi said it is “our duty” to assess risks from holding the Tokyo Games. “The government and others are required to minimize risks,” he added.

Akira Koike, head of the Japanese Communist Party’s secretariat, urged Suga to seek the panel’s opinion about whether to hold the games.

In response, the prime minister said only that Omi and Nishimura keep in touch.

Koike argued that the reason why the government is reluctant to seek the panel’s opinion about the Tokyo Games is that it fears the panel could make an inconvenient recommendation.

JIJI Press