22/11/2010 10:44
Japan's Justice Minister resigns after gaffe
Japan’s Justice Minister today bowed to pressure to resign after he was accused of making light of the parliamentary process with an ill-judged remark about how "easy" his job was, ITAR-TASS reported.
Minoru Yanagida, an upper house member for the Democratic party of Japan, had initially resisted calls to step down amid criticism of a speech he gave to supporters in his Hiroshima constituency, in which he said that "being justice minister is easy as I only have to remember two phrases, either of which I can use in parliament whenever I'm stuck for an answer."
His two stock answers: "One is 'I will not comment on specific cases.' The other is 'We are dealing with the matter in line with the law and evidence'".