Blame it on the cold medicine?
That’s what the government’s top spokesman told a news conference late Monday when questioned about Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s health after a video appearing to show him dozing off in parliament went viral on social media earlier in the day.
“The prime minister has been extremely busy working until late into the night, and I understand that he had a cold today and was taking cold medicine,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said, adding that apart from the cold “there are no problems with his health.”
In a closely watched parliamentary vote Monday, Ishiba was confirmed as prime minister, overcoming one of the first hurdles the fledgling administration will face since his Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito failed to maintain a majority in the recent Lower House election.
But the video of him, with his head down and eyes tightly closed, drowned out news of his confirmation, with the recording trending with many critical comments on the X social media platform under the hashtag “#Ishibashushonoinemuri,” or “PMIshibaSnoozing.”
Asked about the video at a news conference Monday, outgoing Nippon Ishin no Kai leader Nobuyuki Baba said that while he believed Ishiba was assuredly tired, his actions were “inappropriate” for the setting.
“We were holding an election to decide the head of one of the three branches of government, so I think it would be inappropriate for one to take a rest during such an election,” he said.