Former Japanese Prime Minister Suga Also Emphasizes LDP Reform
September LDP Presidential Election, Successor Undecided
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is facing a crisis of stepping down due to low cabinet approval ratings, and voices within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) are increasingly pressuring him not to run in the upcoming LDP presidential election.
According to local media including the Asahi Shimbun on the 24th, former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga appeared on the online program of the magazine "Bungeishunju" the previous day and criticized, "(Prime Minister Kishida) himself has factional issues but is not taking responsibility," adding, "There is a growing sense of crisis that the administration will be replaced if things continue like this."
When asked whether a new leader should emerge in the LDP presidential election scheduled for September, former Prime Minister Suga said, "I think so," emphasizing, "It is important to create an atmosphere that shows the public that the LDP is reforming." However, he dismissed questions about who he would support as the 'post-Kishida' candidate, saying, "I have not decided yet."
Former Prime Minister Suga served as the longest-serving Chief Cabinet Secretary in Japanese history under the Shinzo Abe administration before becoming prime minister. Within the LDP, he is regarded as a leading figure of the non-mainstream faction that checks Prime Minister Kishida. The Asahi Shimbun described Suga’s remarks as "virtually demanding Prime Minister Kishida’s withdrawal and resignation," and noted that "such statements by a leading figure of the non-mainstream faction distancing themselves from Kishida could accelerate movements within the party’s anti-Kishida camp."
Japan adopts a cabinet system where the leader of the majority party becomes prime minister. In other words, if one does not run in the LDP presidential election, they also give up the prime minister position. Former Prime Minister Suga did not run in the LDP presidential election in September 2021 when cabinet approval ratings plummeted during his tenure. Recently, the Kishida cabinet’s approval ratings have fallen to levels comparable to those of Suga’s cabinet three years ago.
According to a telephone survey conducted by the Asahi Shimbun from the 15th to 16th of this month targeting 1,012 respondents (valid responses), the LDP’s support rate dropped 5 percentage points from the previous month to 19%, and the Kishida cabinet’s approval rating also fell by 2 percentage points to only 22%. The LDP’s support rate is lower than during former Prime Minister Aso’s time in 2009 when the LDP lost power to the Democratic Party, and the Kishida cabinet’s approval rating is the lowest since its launch in 2021. Recently, even incumbent LDP lawmakers belonging to the 'Aso faction,' who had supported the Kishida cabinet, have mentioned calls for the prime minister’s resignation. The Asahi Shimbun evaluated this as "an incident showing the recent lack of Kishida’s intra-party cohesion."
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