Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba remained critical of public demonstrations Monday despite retracting part of an earlier comment likening protesters to terrorists, which drew fire from not only the opposition but also various corners of society.
"I saw a similarity between the (shouting) method to awe the general public and an act of terrorism. But I will rephrase my statement by saying that such a method is not in line with a proper democratic process," Ishiba wrote in his latest blog post Monday.
Ishiba wrote there Friday that he believes "shouting one's opinion at the top of one's lungs" is not fundamentally different from "an act of terrorism." Ishiba's comments were directed at citizens demonstrating outside the prime minister's office against the controversial state secrets bill.