Japan Police Chief Wants Key Election Figures Fully Protected

Tokyo, Oct. 10 (Jiji Press)--Japan's police chief called on officers around the country Thursday to do all they can to protect important figures in the upcoming general election.

National Police Agency Commissioner General Yasuhiro Tsuyuki made the request at a meeting of top prefectural police officers at the agency in Tokyo.

The Oct. 27 election for the House of Representatives, the lower parliamentary chamber, will be held after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was gunned down during a July 2022 House of Councillors election campaign speech and an explosive was thrown toward Fumio Kishida while the then prime minister was on the April 2023 Lower House by-election campaign trail.

Tsuyuki demanded that all the prefectural police department heads be "determined to execute every single measure to prevent similar incidents from happening again."

He also called on them to make risk assessments with fresh eyes and flexibly deploy officers to thoroughly protect key figures until the election is over.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]