Abe Refraining from Business Dinners after Criticism

July 27, 2018

Tokyo- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is refraining from having business dinners, in the face of public criticism over a drinking party he attended with his colleagues amid a heavy rain warning for western Japan areas earlier this month.

Photos of the party on the night of July 5, including one showing a smiling Abe surrounded by dozens of Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers, were posted on Twitter, triggering a public backlash as the downpours through the following few days caused severe floods and landslides, claiming the lives of more than 200 people.

Abe had had dinner meetings almost every night until the drinking party in question, but none after one with members of the government's Regulatory Reform Promotion Council on July 6. The only exception was a dinner with visiting European Union leaders on July 17.

However, having meals with other people is an integral part of his campaign for winning another term as LDP president in September's party leadership poll and staying on as prime minister. So, he is making full use of lunches, people close to Abe said.

Abe invited members of the prefectural assemblies of Kumamoto and Aichi for lunch at the prime minister's office on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, to hear requests for government measures to revitalize the economies of the prefectures. Jiji Press