Japan’s struggling Prime Minister Suga resigns, setting the stage for a new leader

Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Friday (September 3) that he would set the stage for a new premiership after a year-long tenure from an unpopular COVID-19 response and rapidly dwindling public support. Suga, who took office after Shinzo Abe resigned last September citing ill health, has seen his support rating drop below 30% as the country grapples with the worst wave of COVID-19 infections ahead of a general election this year. Used to be.

Suga did not host his last major achievement – the Olympics, which were postponed in 2020 due to the pandemic, as Suga took office as coronavirus cases increased. Suga’s decision not to run in the election of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in September meant that the party would elect a new leader, who would become prime minister.

Prior to Abe – Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, with an eight-year term – the country had six prime ministers, including Abe’s first one-year term in as many years. Japan’s Nikkei average futures jumped 2% shortly after media reports that Suga would not last, while the broader Topix index extended its gains and rose to its highest level since 1991 following the news.

“I want to focus on the coronavirus response, so I have decided not to run in the race for the party leadership,” Suga told reporters. “I decided I couldn’t combine the two and I should focus on either one,” Suga said. He said he would hold a press conference early next week.

The address ended a rollercoaster week in which Suga pulled out all the stops to save his job, including suggestions that he would sack his long-term ally, as well as dissolve parliament and the party executive and his There are also plans to reshuffle the cabinet. Officials of the ruling LDP said Suga would remain in office until his successor is chosen in a party-wide election to be held on September 29.

The winner of the contest is assured of being dominant due to the LDP’s majority in the lower house. The government is considering holding general elections on October 17.

running for leader

Suga’s decision opens the race for party chief, as there is no clear favorite to replace the outgoing leader. Soft-spoken former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida is one of two lawmakers who have so far announced their candidacy. On Thursday, he criticized Suga’s coronavirus response and urged a stimulus package to tackle the pandemic.

“At the moment Kishida is the top runner, but that doesn’t mean his victory is certain,” said Koichi Nakano, a professor of political science at Sofia University. Nakano said that Popular Administrative Reforms Minister Taro Kono could run if he had the support of his faction leader, Finance Minister Taro Aso, while former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba could also run but sees a disadvantage.

Kono has led Japan’s rocky vaccination rollout but ranks high on the list of lawmakers who voters want to see Suga succeed. Kono, a former foreign and defense minister, is popular among young voters after garnering support via Twitter, where he has 2.3 million followers – a rarity in Japanese politics dominated by men aged 60 or older.

Ishiba is a soft-spoken former defense minister and a rare LDP critic of Abe when the latter was in office. Experts say Abe’s stance will be closely watched given his influence among conservative lawmakers as well as the two largest factions of the LDP – his own Hosoda group and the second largest faction led by Finance Minister Taro Aso.

Unlike last year, the grassroots members of the LDP will vote with the party’s members of parliament, making it harder to predict the outcome of the party leader’s race. The LDP-led coalition is not expected to lose its majority in the powerful lower house, but forecasts suggest that the LDP could lose a majority on its own, an outcome that will further weaken who leads the party.

“Stock prices are rising based on the idea that the LDP’s defeat in the general election is less likely because anyone other than Suga would be able to gain popularity,” said Toru Suehiro, senior economist at Daiwa Securities. Suga’s image as a savvy political operative was able to push through reforms and take on a rigid bureaucracy, with his support rising to 74 percent when he took office.

Initially, insurance was lauded for populist promises such as low mobile phone rates and fertility treatments. But the removal of scholars critical of the government from an advisory panel and agreement with a junior coalition partner on policy for the cost of health care for the elderly came.

His delay in halting the “go to” domestic itinerary – which experts say could help spread the coronavirus around Japan – was hit hard, while the public grew tired of states of emergency that hurt businesses.

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