Tokyo: Japan’s upper house of parliament on Wednesday expelled an absentee lawmaker for not attending a single parliamentary session since being elected in July 2022. Yoshikazu Higashitani, known as content creator Gasay, has been living abroad and in many cases does not account for his absence. on occasions despite being given the opportunity to do so, reports Xinhua news agency.
Already stripped of his status as a legislator, Higashitani’s expulsion from the upper chamber represented the most severe punishment under the Diet Law.
Higashitani is the third lawmaker to be expelled under Japan’s current constitution, the first to be expelled from parliament for failing to attend a session.
In a plenary session held on Wednesday, all but one of the 236 members of the upper house voted for Higashitani’s expulsion.
The only supporter for the absentee legislator, who has been living in the UAE since before his election, was also from Higashitani’s single-issue Seijika-Joshi-48 party.
The smaller party, formerly known as the NHK Party, was known for its criticism of Japan’s public broadcaster.
Higashitani came to prominence on YouTube for posting content about alleged celebrity scandals.
His posts led the police to ask him to submit for voluntary questioning in December last year and searches were conducted at relevant locations the following month.
He has been criticized for amassing more than 19 million yen ($141,000) in salary and bonuses as a legislator since being elected, despite a zero attendance rate.
Higashitani is also alleged to have swindled several people out of money after promising to arrange for them to meet members of a prominent South Korean pop group.
Hiroshige Seko, the upper house secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, said on Wednesday that it was the wish of all political groups to expel Higashitani.
Masayo Tanabu, a member of Japan’s main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, meanwhile, said Higashitani lacked the awareness of representing the public as stipulated by the constitution and that it was certainly a case that he was expelled.