Abe "Will Remain in Office Until Successor Is Decided"...LDP to Hold Presidential Election in September

General Election to Follow Immediately After Party President Election... Incumbent President Likely to Become Prime Minister if No Major Changes
Shigeru Ishiba, Former LDP Secretary-General, Polls High but Has Weak Intra-Party Standing
Yoshihide Suga, Chief Cabinet Secretary, Rapidly Rising... LDP Secretary-General Calls Him "A Talent Capable of Fulfilling Duties"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suddenly announced his resignation on the 28th due to chronic illness and stated that he would maintain his position until a successor is decided, prompting expectations that the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will urgently proceed with the selection of a 'post-Abe' leader. It is anticipated that the LDP will hold a presidential election next month and immediately call a general election once the new president is elected.

On the 28th, Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that the LDP plans to hold an election in September to select a new president as Abe’s successor and to hold a general election immediately after the presidential election. Earlier, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had confirmed his intention to resign due to worsening chronic illness and planned to announce his position and future course at a press conference at 5 p.m. Abe is known to maintain his position as prime minister until a successor is decided.

Japan, which adopts a parliamentary cabinet system, appoints the prime minister through a vote in the House of Representatives, where the president of the majority party becomes the prime minister. Therefore, it is expected that the person elected as the new LDP president will become Abe’s successor. Accordingly, attention is focused on the movements of the leading figures within the LDP who are considered potential 'post-Abe' candidates. The most prominent candidates for post-Abe include former LDP Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba, LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Fumio Kishida, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.

Among them, former Secretary-General Ishiba, regarded as Abe’s political rival, was previously known to lead in post-Abe opinion polls. However, it is expected to be difficult for him to secure the LDP presidency as he has poor relations with both Prime Minister Abe, the leader of the largest faction, the Hosoda faction, and Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso, the leader of the second-largest faction, the Aso faction.

Earlier, Japan’s largest weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun reported that if Abe resigns, the LDP is considering a scenario where a new president is elected through a joint meeting of the House of Councillors and the House of Representatives. According to LDP rules, if the party president resigns during the term, a new president is generally elected through a vote involving the House of Councillors, the House of Representatives, and party members. However, in urgent cases, a new president can be elected only through a joint meeting of the two houses without holding a party convention.

If a new president is elected solely through the joint meeting of the two houses due to the emergency caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the possibility of former Secretary-General Ishiba being elected is expected to decrease further, which would be advantageous for Policy Research Council Chairman Kishida. Kishida, who is known to be Abe’s chosen successor, has been criticized in opinion polls for having lower popularity than former Secretary-General Ishiba.

Recently, Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga, who is called the second-in-command within the Abe administration, has also emerged as a strong candidate for the successor, according to Japanese media reports. Shukan Bunshun and other Japanese media have suggested that he might lead a 'temporary government for COVID-19 response' until the expiration of Abe’s LDP presidency term in September next year.

Kyodo News reported that LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai, the second-in-command within the LDP, appeared on Japanese private broadcaster TBS and expressed the perception that Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga is a strong candidate for post-Abe. When asked about Suga’s qualifications as a leader, Nikai praised him as "excellent" and "a capable person who can fully fulfill the responsibilities."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.