Twist in Japan: Prime Minister Suga leaves his post
Twist in Japan. Amid mounting criticism of his handling of the pandemic, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Friday that he will not run for the ruling party later this month, paving the way for a new Japanese leader after just a year in office.
Suga told reporters that spearheading Japan's pandemic response and the campaign to lead his ruling Liberal Democratic Party at the same time divided his energies. "I have decided not to run for the leadership of the party, because I would like to focus on the coronavirus measures," Suga told reporters who rushed to his office after the news.
Suga faced both criticism and public support for a coronavirus response deemed too slow and limited and for holding the Olympics despite public health concerns. His hope that the Olympic celebrations would help overturn his popularity was also disappointed. After all, almost 80% of the Japanese were against the event
Suga has vindicated his commitment to managing important events during his tenure, with the utmost commitment. Covid and running in the party are, for him, however, incompatible:
“But doing both takes a lot of energy and I decided I should only choose one or the other,” he said. " As I have repeatedly stated, protecting people's lives and health is my responsibility as prime minister, and that's what I will dedicate myself to ."
The Liberal Democrats and their coalition partner have a majority in parliament, which means that whoever wins the party's vote on September 29 will have the certainty of becoming the new prime minister.
The official start of the campaign in the party is on 17 September. Nomination requires factional support largely controlled by the party's heavyweights, and their choices may not match those favored in public opinion polls.
Two ministers of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government present themselves as potential candidates: former moderate foreign minister Fumio Kishida, currently considered a major contender, and former interior minister Sanae Takaichi, who shares the ideology of Abe's right.
Current vaccination minister Taro Kono also expressed interest on Friday, saying he will make a final decision after consulting fellow lawmakers. Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, a favorite in media polls, and former Gender Equality Minister Seiko Noda, also reportedly expressed intent to run.
Kishida criticized Suga's handling of the pandemic and recently proposed a number of measures against the virus, including more funding, a commitment to secure more hospital beds, and the creation of a health crisis management agency to centralize health measures against the pandemic.
Kono, the son of the House's longest-serving speaker and grandson of a former deputy prime minister, is a blue-blooded politician and has served as foreign and defense ministers. It communicates regularly on social media and is popular with younger voters.
The resignation of Suga in such a difficult moment is also seen as an attempt to overcome the difficulties of the Liberal Democratic party after the Covid affair and the Olympics that have partially obscured him from public opinion.
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The article Twist in Japan: Prime Minister Suga leaves his post comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/colpo-di-scena-in-giappone-il-premier-suga-lascia-il-proprio-posto/ on Fri, 03 Sep 2021 14:50:36 +0000.