Japanese Prime Minister Suga to run in LDP leadership race

Record ID: 1635002

  • Title: Japanese Prime Minister Suga to run in LDP leadership race
  • Date: 26th August 2021
  • Summary: ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** SUGA (STANDING, 2ND RIGHT) POSING FOR PHOTOS ON STAGE WITH PARALYMPIANS AND IPC OFFICIALS
  • Embargoed: 9th September 2021 08:27
  • Keywords: Chief Cabinet Secretary Japan Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga leadership politics race vote
  • Location: TOKYO, OKINAWA, JAPAN / JOINT BASE ANDREWS, WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES / CARBIS BAY, UNITED KINGDOM
  • City: TOKYO, OKINAWA, JAPAN / JOINT BASE ANDREWS, WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES / CARBIS BAY, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA003ERY22PZ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Friday (September 3) he would step down, setting the stage for a new premier after a one-year tenure marred by an unpopular COVID-19 response and rapidly dwindling public support.
    Suga, who took over after Shinzo Abe resigned last September, citing ill health, has seen his support ratings sink to below 30% as the nation struggles with its worst wave of COVID-19 infections ahead of a general election this year.
    Suga's decision on Friday to not run in a ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) election in September means the party will choose a new leader, who will become prime minister.
    Before Abe - Japan's longest-serving prime minister, with an eight-year tenure - the country had gone through six prime ministers in as many years, including Abe's own troubled first one-year tenure.
    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.
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