(Update) Embattled Hyogo Gov. Rejects Nippon Ishin's Call for Resignation

   Kobe/Tokyo, Sept. 9 (Jiji Press)--Embattled Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito on Monday reiterated his intention to stay on as head of the western Japan prefecture, rejecting a call for his resignation from Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party), which backed Saito in the 2021 gubernatorial election.
   Saito was speaking to reporters in the evening after Nippon Ishin members including Daisuke Katayama, a House of Councillors lawmaker from Hyogo, made the call at a meeting with Vice Governor Yohei Hattori earlier in the day.
   Nippon Ishin, the second-largest force in the Hyogo prefectural assembly, decided Sunday to seek Saito's resignation over his alleged power harassment, finding that the governor's sworn testimony about the scandal before a prefectural assembly panel on Friday was not enough to convince the people of the prefecture.
   "It's true that (the scandal) is causing stagnation in the prefectural government," the party's secretary-general, Fumitake Fujita, said at a press conference in Tokyo on Monday. "It's appropriate to seek the judgment of the people of the prefecture in a fresh election."
   "We believe we have no choice but to support a possible no-confidence (motion against Saito) submitted by other assembly groups" if the governor does not step down before the start of the assembly's next regular session on Sept. 19, Fujita said. "We will also consider submitting (a no-confidence motion) alone," he added.

(2024/09/09-18:08)

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