The senator Yoshikazu Higashitani he became the first expelled from the Senate in Japanese history. The parliamentarian, who also -according to the BBC– es youtuber commenting on celebrity gossip, did not go to a single session since he was elected seven months ago.
Although the chamber still has to formalize the decision in the course of this week, the disciplinary commission of the Assembly of Japan decided to expel him after discussing the electoral process.
“‘Gaasyy’ -as he calls himself on YouTube- does not understand the foundations of democracy, based on laws and rules,” he said in the Japan Times the president of this Senate disciplinary commission, Muneo Suzuki.
According to the Japanese outlet, ‘GaaSyy’ has already protested the measure, considering it against their constituents. Furthermore, he stated that afraid to return to Japan for fear of being arrested. As explained by the aforementioned media, legislators are immune to arrest during parliamentary sessions, but once ‘GaaSyy loses his seat’, he will lose that right.
Japanese authorities are investigating him for alleged bullying and defamation of certain celebrities in his YouTube videos. Although no one knows for sure where it is, Higashitani is believed to live in the United Arab Emirates. In the face of the scandal, GaaSyy closed his Twitter account.
Unanimous decision
In Japan, expulsion is the most severe punishment an MP can receive. While it only happened twice since 1950; this is the first time a congressman has been continuously absent.
Last week, Parliament required Higashitani to fly to Tokyo to apologize in person to the Upper House for his constant absences, this being his last chance to redeem himself.
Despite the warning, Higashitani did not appear at the parliamentary session, instead announcing on his YouTube channel that he would be traveling to Turkey, and that he was planning to donate his salary to earthquake relief efforts in that country.
For his part, the party’s only colleague, Hamada Satoshi, argued that it was illegal to expel Higashitani for not attending sessions. However, the committee voted unanimously to expel him.
Flamboyant and womanizing, who is Yoshikazu Higashitani or “GaaSyy”
Higashitani is a 51-year-old man who rose to fame by exposing alleged scandals involving local celebrities. The success of his posts reached more than 1.3 million subscribers. This number caught the attention of the NHK political party who called him to be a part.
According to him Japan Timesprior to his launch as a politician, “enjoyed a extravagant lifestyle of money, liquor and women with his friends in show business”. In addition, he would have suffered from pathological gamblinga disease that led him to accumulate a large amount of debt.
NT / ED
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