The Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, was evacuated this Saturday when an explosion was recorded while visiting the port of Saikazaki in the city of Wakayama (western Japan), and without the president being injured in the incident.
The alleged explosion occurred around 11:30 a.m. local time (2:30 a.m. GMT on Saturday) while the president was preparing to give a speech in that place, for which he was immediately removed from the area by security services.
Authorities immediately arrested the person suspected of being responsible for the launch of what several eyewitnesses described as a cylindrical object that exploded similar to a smoke bomb, according to local media.
The president was in the port with the aim of giving a speech in support of the electoral campaign of one of the candidates of his party, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (PLD), when the suspect threw the alleged explosive object in the area.
In the images taken by NHK at the scene, a group of five policemen can be seen immobilizing the alleged perpetrator on the ground, in addition to the rest of the people fleeing the area screaming.
Fumio Kishida has resumed his electoral acts scheduled for this same day this Saturday, just over an hour after being evacuated. “I saw that something was launched, but I was able to escape and at that time I could hear the explosion,” said the prime minister, who also pointed out that despite the incident “he will continue with his electoral acts scheduled for today and tomorrow,” in statements to a high official of his party collected by the state chain NHK.
“We are going to hold an important election for our country, and we must work together to keep it going,” Kishida said in another campaign speech held this Saturday near the Wakayama railway station, approximately one hour and ten minutes after the incident, to which he also referred in his address.
The Japanese authorities arrested a man at the scene of the incident as allegedly responsible for the launch of the explosive object, which according to eyewitnesses was a metal cylinder and which exploded in a similar way to a smoke bomb.
In the images taken by NHK at the scene, a group of five policemen can be seen immobilizing the alleged perpetrator on the ground, in addition to the rest of the people fleeing the area screaming. The suspect is in the custody of the Wakayama police and awaiting questioning, according to local authorities.
The Executive and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (PLD) have condemned the incident, which comes before another round of local elections scheduled for next week to elect mayors and members of assemblies.
“It is extremely regrettable that this should happen during the election period, which is the foundation of democracy, and it is an unforgivable act,” said Hiroshi Moriyama, the director of the LDP’s election campaign committee.
“We strongly condemn such a violent act committed during the electoral campaign,” said the secretary general of the conservative party, Toshimitsu Motegi.
In addition, the event occurs the same weekend that Japan hosts two G7 ministerial meetings, Foreign Affairs and Energy and Environment. A summit of leaders of that group of countries is scheduled for the end of next month in the city of Hiroshima.
Political speeches on the street are frequent in Japan, a country with a very low crime rate, although last July former Japanese president Shinzo Abe died after being shot in the back with a homemade firearm while giving an electoral speech in the city of Nara.
