TOKYO听–听A听尘补苍听set听丑颈尘蝉别濒蹿听on听蹿颈谤别听near the听闯补辫补苍别蝉别听prime minister’s office on Wednesday in an听补辫辫补谤别苍迟听辫谤辞迟别蝉迟听at the government’s decision to hold a听蝉迟补迟别听蹿耻苍别谤补濒听for听蹿辞谤尘别谤听premier Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated earlier this year, media reported.
The听尘补苍听was taken to hospital suffering burns to his entire body, while a police officer who tried to extinguish the flames was also injured.
The听尘补苍, in his 70s, was unconscious when first found but later told police that he had deliberately doused听丑颈尘蝉别濒蹿听in oil, media said. A letter about Abe’s听蝉迟补迟别听蹿耻苍别谤补濒听and the words “I strongly oppose it,” was found nearby.
Police declined to confirm the incident, which took place on what would have been Abe’s 68th birthday.
“I have heard that police found a听尘补苍听who had suffered burns near government offices, and I’m aware that police are investigating,” chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a news conference.
Abe, Japan’s longest serving premier who stepped down in 2020 citing ill-health, was gunned down at a campaign rally on July 8. His听蝉迟补迟别听蹿耻苍别谤补濒听is set for Sept. 27, with some 6,000 people from Japan and overseas set to take part.
Opposition to the event has been growing due to revelations after Abe’s killing of links between the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), of which he was a powerful member, and the controversial Unification Church. The suspect in Abe’s death has said the church bankrupted his mother and he felt the听蹿辞谤尘别谤听prime minister supported it.
Links to the Unification Church, founded in South Korea in the 1950s, have grown into a huge problem for current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and the LDP since they emerged following Abe’s killing. The LDP earlier this month said a survey showed nearly half of 379 LDP lawmakers had some form of interaction with the church.聽
Public sentiment was narrowly in favor of a听蝉迟补迟别听蹿耻苍别谤补濒听at the time it was announced, shortly after Abe’s death, but opinion has shifted sharply.
Numerous polls show a majority of听闯补辫补苍别蝉别听now oppose the ceremony, helping to send Kishida’s support plummeting. A poll by the Mainichi Daily conducted at the weekend showed his support at 29%, down six percentage points from late August – a level that analysts say makes it difficult for a prime minister to have enough support to carry out his agenda.
Support for the LDP fell 6 points to 23%, the Mainichi said.
Kishida has defended his decision repeatedly, but a vast majority of voters remain unconvinced, also questioning the need to hold such an expensive ceremony at a time of growing economic pain for ordinary citizens.
The latest government cost estimate is 1.65 billion yen ($12 million), which includes security and receptions.
In 2014, two men set themselves on听蹿颈谤别听in separate incidents in聽辫谤辞迟别蝉迟听at Japan’s shift away from postwar pacifism under Abe’s administration. One of the men died. – Reuters
