A petition calling for the cancellation of the Olympics is a popular success in Japan. – Eugene Hoshiko / AP / SIPA
Popular pressure is growing (again) on the organizers of the Tokyo Olympics. Anti-Olympics activists on Friday submitted a petition calling for the cancellation of the Games, as the pandemic continues to worsen in Japan, where authorities are preparing to extend the state of emergency in place to part of the country. country.
More than 352,000 people have signed an online petition entitled “Cancel the Tokyo Olympics to protect our lives”, launched in early May by Kenji Utsunomiya, lawyer and former candidate for governor of Tokyo.
60 to 70% of the population against the Olympics
The particularly fast speed with which the signatures were collected on the platform Change.org in Japan “reflects public opinion,” polls conducted since last year showing that 60 to 70 percent of the population is opposed to holding the Games this summer, he told reporters. “This time the question is what do we prioritize, life or a ceremony and event called the Olympics,” said Kenji Utsunomiya.
With the petition, he called on Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike to urge the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to cancel the Games. “The IOC has the right to make the decision to cancel the Games or not, but Tokyo, as the host city, should urge the IOC to cancel the Games,” he said.
Emergency state
These activists have sent their petition by email to the IOC and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and will then send postal letters to international organizations, while planning to submit the same text to the Japanese government and the Tokyo Games organizing committee. This initiative comes as Japan extended this Friday the state of emergency linked to the coronavirus, currently in place in six departments including that of Tokyo, to three other departments.
“We want to instill a sense of certainty because we see that the anger comes from this idea opposing the safety of the Japanese people and the Games. I believe they can coexist, ”Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee, told AFP.
The number of Covid-19 cases continues to increase in the country while the vaccination campaign is progressing only very slowly. Activated for the third time in the country in just over a year, the Japanese state of emergency provides for less severe restrictions than the strict lockdowns implemented elsewhere in the world.
In recent days, several high-ranking Japanese sportsmen, including golfer Hideki Matsuyama and tennis champions Naomi Osaka and Kei Nishikori, have expressed reservations about the viability of the Olympic Games in the midst of a pandemic. Japan has been relatively spared from the pandemic overall with just over 11,000 officially recorded deaths since early 2020, but medical experts warn the hospital system is under great pressure.