Japan's gaffe-prone prime minister is in trouble again _ this time for a remark criticizing the elderly as a tax burden for racking up medical expenses.
"They're hobbling around and constantly going to the doctor," Prime Minister Taro Aso was quoted as saying in a transcript of a Nov. 20 meeting of ministers on economic policies.
Aso also said the elderly should be faulted for not exercising enough.
"I am paying taxes. Why should I pay money for those who lazily drink and eat and do nothing?" he said.
The transcript was released overnight, drawing immediate criticism in the Japanese media and forcing an apology from the prime minister Thursday.
"I apologize if the remarks offended people who are suffering illnesses," Aso said on nationally televised news.
He told reporters that he intended to talk about the value of preventive medicine and merely highlight the gap between people who take care of their health and those who don't.
Aso's comments came during a discussion of the social welfare system _ topics of great concern for Japan, a rapidly aging nation where growing medical and pension expenses are critical issues. His ruling Liberal Democratic Party has come under fire for mishandling millions of pension records and changing the nation's medical plan for the elderly, as well as for a number of corruption scandals.
Opposition leader Yukio Hatoyama lambasted Aso, saying his comments undermined Japan's health system.
"I can't help but wonder whether such a person is really fit to be prime minister," Hatoyama said
Aso's comments are likely to erode his already sagging popularity.
He has already had to apologize for joking about people with Alzheimer's disease, saying the ideal country would be one that attracts "the richest Jewish people," and comparing the opposition Democratic Party of Japan to the Nazis.
As foreign minister, Aso raised ire in Asia by reportedly crediting Japan's brutal colonial rule before World War II as raising Taiwan's literacy and educational levels, hinting his nation had done Taiwan a favor.
Government spokesman Takeo Kawamura played down Aso's latest remark, shrugging it off as a harmless reflection of his personality. Aso has a reputation for being blunt, but supporters prefer to see him as open and flamboyant.
"There are likely to be more such remarks," he told reporters. "That's part of his charm."
