Abe Pushed for a 1-Year Postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, Not 2 Years... Did He Consider His Term?

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Regarding the postponement period of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, which were confirmed to be postponed due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the organizing committee initially considered a two-year postponement plan, but it has been revealed that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pushed for a one-year postponement plan.

According to the Asahi Shimbun on the 1st, Yoshiro Mori, the chairman of the organizing committee, stated in an interview conducted the previous day that during a conversation with Prime Minister Abe at the Prime Minister's residence on the 24th of last month, the decision was made to postpone the Tokyo Olympics by one year.

At that time, Prime Minister Abe was about to have a 30-minute phone conference with Thomas Bach, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) president, to discuss the postponement issue. Abe met with Chairman Mori alone and first brought up the one-year postponement plan, asking for his opinion. Chairman Mori responded that a two-year postponement would be better, considering the uncertainty of when the COVID-19 outbreak would end. In response, Abe said, "Japan's technological capabilities will not decline. There is a vaccine. It's okay."

During the conversation with Chairman Mori, Abe also said, "We must also consider the political schedule." This remark was made with awareness that Abe's third term as the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president would end in September next year. Mori later revealed that Abe tried to laugh it off by saying, "Don't worry about it." Currently, according to LDP party rules, the president's term is limited to three consecutive terms.

Chairman Mori also said that seeing Abe say "one year is enough," he felt that Abe intended to hold the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Ultimately, the two-year postponement plan was not proposed to the IOC. Mori said, "In 2022, there will be the Beijing Winter Olympics, and in 2024, the Paris Summer Olympics, so the IOC also wanted to avoid having two Olympics in the same year."

With the Tokyo Olympics postponed to July next year, there is also a possibility that COVID-19 may not be eradicated by then. Regarding this, Chairman Mori said, "I don't want to think about that now," adding, "We are betting on 2021. Without the evolution of science and technology, humanity will perish." The Japanese government is currently promoting clinical trials of Fujifilm's influenza treatment drug 'Avigan' as a treatment for COVID-19.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.