「まずまず」発言を撤回、謝罪＝野党、一斉に批判－二階自民幹事長

　自民党の二階俊博幹事長は１５日午後、台風１９号被害を「まずまずに収まった」と発言したことについて、「被災者に誤解を与えたとすれば表現が不適切であった。今後、災害の復旧に全力を尽くしたい」と述べ、発言を謝罪し、撤回した。党本部で記者団の取材に応じた。
　二階氏の発言をめぐっては１５日、野党各党が一斉に批判した。立憲民主党の杉尾秀哉氏は参院予算委員会で「信じられない発言だ。憤りしかない」と反発。共産党の小池晃書記局長は記者会見で「これだけ深刻な被害で、一体どういう認識なのか。政府・与党全体の認識が問われる」と述べ、謝罪と撤回を求めた。（2019/10/15-18:45）

Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, apologized Tuesday for describing the damage from deadly Typhoon Hagibis as "tolerable" and withdrew the remark.
   Hagibis, the 19th typhoon this year, battered mainly central and eastern Japan over the weekend, causing landslides and river flooding in a dozen of prefectures including Tokyo and having so far killed tens of people and damaged around 10,000 houses.
   Nikai made the comment at an emergency meeting of LDP executives on the typhoon on Sunday.
   "If I caused misunderstanding among affected people, my expression was inappropriate. I'll make all-out efforts to reconstruct typhoon-hit areas," Nikai told reporters at the LDP headquarters in Tokyo.
   His apology for and retraction of the comment came after criticism erupted among opposition parties.