YouTuber-turned-lawmaker GaaSyy was elected final July however did not attend a single session.
Yoshikazu Higashitani, identified by his on-line pseudonym GaaSyy, has change into the primary MP expelled by Japan’s parliament in additional than 70 years, after he failed to indicate up for work.
The parliament has expelled solely two individuals since 1950, however that is the primary time an MP has been expelled attributable to persistent absence.
Higashitani is one in every of two members elected from the Seijika Joshi 48, or “Politician Women 48” opposition occasion, previously referred to as the NHK Occasion.
The one-issue occasion campaigns for modifications to Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK.
Since being elected in July 2022, Higashitani has did not attend a single session.
Nicknamed “No-show MP”, he’s a former businessman and YouTuber, well-known for his celeb gossip movies.
He has remained in Dubai, claiming he’s vulnerable to arrest if he returns to Japan.
He reportedly faces questioning over alleged defamation of some Japanese celebrities associated to his YouTube movies.
Final week, parliament requested Higashitani to ship an in-person apology within the Tokyo chamber, in his final probability at redemption.
As an alternative, he introduced on his YouTube channel that he was going to Turkey and that he deliberate to donate his wage to Turkish earthquake reduction.
Hamada Satoshi, the opposite member of his occasion, argued that it was unlawful to expel Higashitani due to his absence from the periods.
Higashitani will probably be changed in the home by one other member of the occasion.
