Approval Ratings Hit Rock Bottom for Japan's Suga, Announces Challenge for LDP Presidency Reelection

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Yoshihide Suga, Prime Minister of Japan, has expressed his intention to challenge for a second term as the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president through re-election this September, when his current term ends.

In an interview with Yomiuri TV on the 17th, Prime Minister Suga said regarding his candidacy for the LDP presidential election, "I think it is natural when the time comes."

Japan, a parliamentary system, has a structure where members of the Diet elect the head of the administration, the Prime Minister (Chief Cabinet Secretary), and the president of the majority party (currently the LDP) serves as Prime Minister. Suga became Prime Minister after being elected LDP president last September, succeeding former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who stepped down with one year left in his LDP presidency due to health reasons. Suga’s current LDP presidential term lasts until September 30 of this year, the remainder of Abe’s term, and the current four-year term of the House of Representatives expires on October 21. Accordingly, it is expected that the LDP presidential election will be held before September this year, and the House of Representatives election, which determines the majority party, will take place before October.

Regarding the possibility of dissolving the House of Representatives before the end of its term, which is within the Prime Minister’s authority, Suga said, "The presidential term is fixed, and the House of Representatives term is the same." On the possibility of a cabinet reshuffle before the dissolution of the House of Representatives, he said, "For now, it is important for the cabinet to focus all its efforts on vaccine measures."

In a recent July public opinion poll by Jiji Press, support for the Suga Cabinet was found to have fallen to the dangerous 20% range. Cabinet support dropped to 29.3%, falling below 30% for the first time since the cabinet was formed last September. It is analyzed that negative factors such as poor COVID-19 response and pushing forward with the Olympics affected the approval rating.

In the same survey, when asked how long they would like Prime Minister Suga to continue in office, 49.4% responded that they would prefer him to serve only until the end of his LDP presidential term this September and then step down, which was the highest percentage. Additionally, 17.3% said they would like him to resign immediately. Those who wished for Suga to succeed in re-election as LDP president and serve three more years accounted for 18.0%, while only 5.6% wanted him to remain in office as long as possible.