Opposition steps up criticism of Takaichi for skipping last month’s G7 meeting

Opposition parties are stepping up their criticisms of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi for her absence from an online summit of the Group of Seven major industrialized nations held in early October. The opposition side is frustrated at vague explanations given by Takaichi, also president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and by the Foreign Ministry over the matter. Some suspect that Takaichi skipped the G7 talks because she attended a dinner meeting with LDP Vice President Taro Aso and other party executives held at her official residence just before the online session among the G7 members — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the European Union.