EDITORIAL: Suppression of dissenting voices threatens health of democracy

A Cabinet member’s recent remarks that support police actions to eject hecklers from political rallies have raised concerns about excessive law-enforcement responses to critical voices in such events.

Education minister Masahiko Shibayama’s remarks concerning an incident during the recent Saitama gubernatorial election should not be overlooked.

During Shibayama’s speech for the candidate supported by the ruling camp, a university student was surrounded by police officers and escorted out of the area after shouting opposition to the government’s plan to reform university entrance examinations.

In an Aug. 27 news conference, Shibayama effectively supported the police action.

While saying “the freedom of expression should be respected to a maximum degree,” Shibayama, referring to the rights of people who wanted to listen to his speech, voiced doubts about whether the rights of people to make loud protests in such events should be guaranteed.

Shibayama’s comment can only be described as an effective endorsement of police crackdowns on protesters.

Politicians’ street speeches are directed at a broad audience composed of people with widely differing views including not only their supporters but also their critics.

Heckling is one way for people to express their opinions. If hecklers are forcefully kicked out of political rallies and other events in public places, citizens will be denied the freedom to express their thoughts in public.

Is Shibayama unaware of the danger of this approach?

The student in question protested against the education ministry’s plan to introduce private-sector English language tests as part of a new standardized university admission exam program starting in fiscal 2020. The plan has aroused urgent concerns among high school students and their parents as its details remain unclear.

The student was ejected after shouting “Step down, Shibayama” and “Scrap the private-sector tests.”

It is hard to claim his protest caused the kind of serious disruption in the speech that Shibayama warned about.

After his comment was criticized online by people pointing out that the people’s right to voice protests is guaranteed, Shibayama responded by tweeting, “Are you suggesting that police should just watch silently and do nothing until protesters grow into a huge crowd?”

As the official in charge of education policy and administration, Shibayama should first listen humbly to criticism and incorporate useful opinions into policy.

During the July Upper House election, there were many cases where people who heckled Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his street speeches were ejected from the events.

In Sapporo, a man who chanted “Step down, Abe” and a woman who shouted “No tax hike” were surrounded by police officers and escorted from the site.

Also in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, a man who heckled Abe was escorted away.

With regard to these cases, the government has only repeated the principle that police should act “in an unbiased, nonpartisan, fair and neutral manner,” as Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.

Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki asked the prefectural police department to publish related facts including the legal grounds for the action. But police have yet to offer any clear explanation, saying they are still working to “confirm” the facts.

Are these troubling episodes signs of influence from the Abe administration’s tendency to turn a deaf ear to dissenting voices, as indicated by its high-handed manner of dealing with Diet affairs and lack of commitment to fulfilling its responsibility to offer explanations about its policy actions and decisions.

Shibayama’s remarks have only deepened our concerns about the health of democracy in this nation.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 29