Tokyo: Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will resign this month, throwing wide open the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election — a crucial race that could set the tone for an upcoming lower house campaign.
In light of the Suga cabinet’s slumping approval rating — down to a low of 34% in the latest Nikkei poll — there have been widespread worries in the party that it would lose the lower house election without a change of prime minister.
“I want to focus on coronavirus response, so I told the LDP executive meeting that I’ve decided not to run in the party leadership race,” Suga told reporters.
Suga addressed a scrum of journalists for less than two minutes at his office and left the venue amid shouts for more explanation. He said he would hold a news conference as early as next week.
Ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) officials said Suga would finish his term as its president, meaning he would stay on until his successor is chosen in party-wide election slated for Sept. 29.
The winner of the contest is all but assured of being premier because of the LDP’s majority in the lower house. The government has been considering holding the general election on Oct. 17.
