Pedestrians wearing protective face masks cross a road intersection in the Shibuya district in Tokyo, Japan, on April 8, 2020. (TORU HANAI / BLOOMBERG)
TOKYO – Six nominees of the Science Council of Japan submitted an application to the Cabinet Office on Monday, urging the government to explain why their appointment was refused by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
Last October, Suga did not appoint six of the 105 nominees who were set to join the council. Japanese leaders have been naming members of the council as recommended by its members since 2004, based on the country's law and the organization's protocols.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's refusal to appoint the six members is the first time since 2004 that a prime minister has decided against appointing nominees
Suga's refusal to appoint the six members is the first time since 2004 that a prime minister has decided against appointing nominees.
While the Suga government has not disclosed the reasons, it is widely believed that the veto has relations with the anti-war stance of the scholars. The move has not only provoked indignation of the Science Council of Japan, but also protests from many academic groups, prominent scholars and opposition parties.
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Professor Masanori Okada at Waseda University and professor Ryuichi Ozawa at the Jikei University School of Medicine, two of the shunned nominees, said at a press conference on Monday that it is illegal for Suga to refuse the appointment without giving any explanation.
The Japanese government's intervention of the appointment on political grounds has seriously trampled on the independence of the Science Council of Japan, said the professors.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato had said the Cabinet Office had kept records of internal consultations on the appointment of the members. However, he and Suga have so far shied away from giving reasons for the refusal.
Founded in 1949, the Science Council of Japan is known as the "Diet of scholars." It makes policy proposals independently of the government and is funded from the government budget.
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