(Ottawa and Montreal) Prime Ministers Justin Trudeau and François Legault, as well as several Canadian and Quebec elected officials, reacted in turn on Friday to the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which occurred earlier in the day.
Posted at 10:31 a.m.
Updated at 12:09 p.m.
In a statement posted on Twitter, Trudeau said he was “deeply saddened” by the news. The assassination of the man who led the Japanese government twice from 2006 to 2007, then from 2012 to 2020, is “extremely disturbing”.
“The world has lost a great visionary, and Canada a close friend. My heart goes out to his wife Akie and the Japanese who mourn his passing. You will be missed, my friend,” he concluded.
In Quebec, Premier François Legault said he was “shattered by the death of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe”. “Quebec joins Canada and the rest of the world in denouncing this act of violence against the very foundations of democracy,” he tweeted.
Shinzo Abe was shot and killed Friday by an assailant who opened fire on him in the middle of an election rally in Nara, western Japan. Arrested for the murder, the suspect, 41-year-old unemployed Tetsuya Yamagami, confessed to committing the crime and said he used a homemade weapon, according to a senior Nara area police official.
The arrested man “said he held a grudge against a certain organization and he confessed to committing the crime because he believed former Prime Minister Abe was related to him”, the policeman told reporters, refusing to comment. give more details.
A Shaken Democracy
Quickly, on Friday, this assassination did not fail to react on the rest of the Canadian and Quebec political scene. “I am shocked and saddened by the attack on Shinzo Abe, former Prime Minister of Japan. My thoughts are with his family, friends and the people of Japan who mourn this terrible loss. Rest in peace,” said New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh.
“I want to express my condolences and my sympathy, like those of the Bloc Québécois, to the people of Japan, but also my anger and my indignation that our so-called democratic and secure societies see public figures murdered cowardly and obviously easily”, as for to him underlined the leader bloquiste Yves-François Blanchet.
The Quebec Minister of International Relations, Nadine Girault, also reacted at the start of the day. “All my thoughts to the Japanese people, our dear friends, following the assassination of their former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He was a proud ambassador of his nation and fostered the development of relations between Japan and Quebec,” she tweeted.
“This assassination shakes the foundations of democracy. of any democracy. It sends shivers down your spine, ”said Liberal MPP Marwah Rizqy on social media.