Japanese YouTuber Yoshikazu Higashitani, 51, also known on social media by his pseudonym “GaaSyy” and specializing in celebrity scandals, has just been expelled from his country’s Upper House of Parliament for systematically missing all sitting days, one year after being elected.
The Upper House decided to exclude him on Tuesday and formalized its decision on Wednesday. This is a first for a Japanese parliamentarian since 1951, according to Japanese media. The content creator had been ordered to apologize to Parliament earlier this month for his constant absenteeism, contrary to the rule of attendance of elected officials at parliamentary sessions.
Suspected of intimidation and defamation
But Yoshikazu Higashitani, one of the two elected members of the microparty Seijika Joshi 48 (literally, “Girls in politics 48”), did not respond to this summons either. After his election last July, he remained in Dubai, where he already lived. He said he dared not return to Japan for fear of being arrested there.
Local police are indeed investigating him, suspecting him of bullying and defaming celebrities via his online videos, according to local media. His YouTube channel is regularly followed by more than 1.3 million subscribers.
Yoshikazu Higashitani will be replaced by another member of his microparty. It has changed its name many times since its creation in 2013. It was initially focused exclusively on its opposition to the license fee for Japanese public television NHK.