[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Yoshihide Suga, the Japanese Prime Minister whose chances of re-election have dimmed due to declining approval ratings, is being shunned even in his stronghold. Within the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), there is a growing sentiment that the current leadership structure will struggle to win the upcoming general election, leading to moves within the party to sideline Suga.
According to Kyodo News on the 3rd, Ryusuke Toi, secretary-general of the LDP Kanagawa Prefecture branch, stated on the 2nd that he would not campaign for Suga’s re-election in the party presidential election. Kanagawa Prefecture is the constituency of Prime Minister Suga, who has been elected eight times to the House of Representatives, and is considered Suga’s political stronghold.
He said, "At the branch level, we have no intention of campaigning for Prime Minister Suga’s re-election," adding, "While we want to support him somehow, we cannot help but think about what must be done to win the imminent House of Representatives election."
He further added, "I want to properly reflect the voices of party members in the presidential election."
Regarding the defeat of Hachiro Okonogi, the candidate whom Prime Minister Suga fully supported in the Kanagawa Prefecture Yokohama mayoral election held on the 22nd of last month, he analyzed that the spread of COVID-19 was a factor and predicted that LDP candidates would face a very tough battle in this year’s general election.
Kyodo News reported, "Secretary-General Toi’s remarks indicate that Suga’s political influence is weakening even in his own stronghold."
Earlier, Takuya Hirai, Minister for Digital Affairs and a member of the current Suga Cabinet, announced on the 1st that he would support Fumio Kishida, former Secretary-General and Suga’s rival in the party leadership race.
Hirai belongs to the faction led by Kishida but attracted attention by expressing his intention not to support Prime Minister Suga despite being a cabinet minister.
Meanwhile, Suga informed Toshihiro Nikai, the party secretary-general, on the previous day of his intention to run in the upcoming party presidential election.
Thus, at this stage, the race is shaping up as a showdown between Kishida, who declared his candidacy on the 26th of last month, and Suga, but there is a high possibility of more candidates as Shigeru Ishiba, former secretary-general, and others are still considering whether to run.
Former Minister of Internal Affairs Sanae Takaichi has also shown interest in running.
Meanwhile, it is expected that Suga will carry out a reshuffle of party executives and a partial cabinet reshuffle as early as the 6th to break through the current crisis.
However, within the LDP, criticism is growing that such stopgap personnel changes at a time just before the party presidential election and general election are merely a temporary measure to prolong the Suga administration.
The Sankei Shimbun reported that while a plan to replace all four top party executives including Secretary-General Nikai is being considered, candidates with high name recognition such as former Secretary-General Ishiba, Minister for Administrative Reform Taro Kono, and Minister of the Environment Shinjiro Koizumi are being floated. It also noted that personnel changes before the presidential election are unusual and may not proceed smoothly.
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