‘Make democracy a little better,’ ex-Japanese premier tells parliament

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Reflecting on the times and services of his slain successor Shinzo Abe, Japan’s former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told the country’s parliament on Tuesday to “make democracy a little better.”

“We should only continue to rely on the power of speech to forge our democracy, imperfect as it may be, into something a little better,” Noda told lawmakers, delivering a memorial speech in honor of Abe, who was gunned down in July.

Noda, now an opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker, said: “Democracy should never yield to violence and terrorism.”

“I’m left with an unbearable loneliness wrenching my heart,” he said while Abe's widow Akie, observed the parliamentary proceeding, holding a portrait of the former leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

Abe was shot at and killed during an election campaign in July by Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, who had said his family “was financially ruined after his mother made huge donations” to the controversial Unification Church.

The Unification Church, now rebranded as Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, has been accused of forcing followers to make financial donations to the group.

Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, stepped down in 2020 due to health reasons.

Noda and Abe were both elected to the lower house of the Japanese parliament in 1993.

Earlier, he served between 2006 and 2007, and returned to power in 2012, taking over reigns from Noda, who described Abe as “kind-hearted and caring.”

On his diplomatic abilities, Noda recalled that Abe made 196 country or territory visits when in office and held summit talks 1,187 times.

Lauding Abe for his efforts to forge close ties with the US, Noda said he could manage relations with “two totally different types of US presidents” – Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

Japan held a state funeral for Abe late last month, despite public criticism.

The LDP had proposed that party’s former Secretary General Akira Amari should deliver the memorial speech in the parliament in August, but it was canceled due to allegations of graft, linked to Amari.

However, Noda accepted the offer to deliver the speech “in line with the custom of appointing a high-ranking lawmaker from the country's leading opposition party” as a speaker, according to Kyodo News.