Is the Killing of Former Prime Minister Abe a Challenge to Democracy?

Former Prime Minister Abe was shot during an election speech and died later that day. The shooter was seized and arrested on the spot. Killing a person, regardless of the reason, is never acceptable. I strongly hope that the perpetrator will be severely punished.

The background of the incident will be revealed in the future, but according to newspaper reports, the perpetrator stated that he had no grudge against Mr. Abe's political beliefs. Instead, he had a grudge against a particular religious group and attacked Mr. Abe because he thought Abe had a connection with the group.

Nevertheless, the media is consistently reporting that "the incident is a challenge to democracy." The hashtag “We want democracy, not violence" was trending on the Japanese social media. Politicians have made similar comments in quick succession. "Free and fair elections, which are the basis of democracy, must be absolutely protected. We will not yield to violence," Prime Minister Kishida said in a commentary. In general, I agree with his comment. However, judging from the information we have at this point, the perpetrators did not intend to suppress speech. It is true that the crime was committed during the election period, but it would merely be a rational decision by the murderer, who seriously wanted to kill Mr. Abe. Normally, the public would not be able to know the former prime minister's schedule of activities.

There is no doubt that this crime is a challenge to the "rule of law" and "social stability. However, it is too simplistic to say that the crime is a "challenge to democracy" even though a politician was assassinated. On the contrary, it is a kind of manipulation of impressions and can distort "free and fair elections" Mr. Kishida mentioned.