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Agence France-Presse

Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Friday he will not run for re-election as party leader this month, effectively ending his tenure after just one year.
He told a news conference in Tokyo that he will not run for leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party later this month. Whoever becomes the next LDP leader is virtually assured of becoming prime minister thanks to the party’s dominance in parliament.
“Since I became prime minister a year ago, dealing with coronavirus has been at the centre of my efforts,” Suga told reporters in a brief statement without taking questions. “Dealing with the virus while campaigning for the election would take a huge amount of energy. I realised I couldn’t do both and I should choose one.”
Suga resigns: what happens now and is Abe poised to return?
The shock announcement comes with Suga’s approval ratings at an all-time low over his government’s handling of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
But it was a decision that had not been foreshadowed, with Suga dropping no hints of his plans to leave office after just a single year in power and before contesting his first general election.
“To be honest, I’m surprised,” LDP Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai told reporters earlier on Friday. “But I believe he came to this decision after thinking about it deeply.”
Suga came to office last year, stepping into the post left empty when Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe resigned for health reasons.

He had been widely expected to seek re-election as LDP leader in a vote set for September 29, with most speculation surrounding only how soon after that he would call a general election.
The election must be called by late October, and the LDP is expected to remain in power but possibly lose seats as a result of Suga’s unpopularity.
Tokyo infection numbers threaten Paralympics as Suga watches approval slump
His government’s approval rating has nosedived to an all-time low of 31.8 per cent according to a poll by the Kyodo news agency last month. And recent reports about his plans for a cabinet reshuffle, as an attempt to remedy his unpopularity, appeared to be insufficient.
Suga has been battered by his government’s response to the pandemic, with Japan struggling through a record fifth wave of the virus after a slow start to its vaccine programme.

Much of the country is currently under virus restrictions, and the measures have been in place in some areas for almost the entire year.
But they have been insufficient to stop a surge in cases driven by the more contagious Delta variant, even as the vaccine programme has picked up pace with nearly 43 per cent of the population fully inoculated.
Japan has recorded nearly 16,000 deaths during the pandemic.
Why does Japan’s Suga avoid the official residence? It’s a spooky story
The 72-year-old Suga’s election as prime minister last year capped a lengthy political career.
Before taking the top office he served in the prominent role of chief cabinet secretary, and he had earned a fearsome reputation for wielding his power to control Japan’s sprawling and powerful bureaucracy.
The son of a strawberry farmer and a schoolteacher, Suga was raised in rural Akita in northern Japan and put himself through college after moving to Tokyo by working at a factory.
He was elected to his first office in 1987 as a municipal assembly member in Yokohama outside Tokyo, and entered parliament in 1996.
The leadership race was already starting to heat up on Friday, with local media reporting that former defence minister Taro Kono, who manages Japan’s vaccine roll-out, would stand for election.
LDP policy chief Hakubun Shimomura, divisive right-winger Sanae Takaichi and popular ex-defence minister Shigeru Ishiba are also considered possible candidates.
But the only politician to officially announce his plans so far is Fumio Kishida, who has pledged to spend big if he wins.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg


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Yoshihide Suga

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Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga pictured at a news conference on Japan's response to the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this summer. Photo: Reuters

FILE - In this Sept. 14, 2020, file photo, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, receives flowers from Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga after Suga was elected as new head of Japan's ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) leadership election, in Tokyo. Japan's political shakeup could be an opportunity for South Korea, which sees Abe’s departure as a chance to clear things up between the rivals. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool, File)

A man wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walks across an intersection in a drizzle in Tokyo, Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga resigns: what happens now and is Shinzo Abe preparing to return?

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has announced he will resign after a year in the job. Photo: AP

Outgoing Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe waves before leaving the prime minister's office Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, in Tokyo. Abe and his Cabinet resigned Wednesday, clearing the way for his successor Yoshihide Suga to take over after parliamentary confirmation later in the day. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

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China’s President Xi Jinping holds hands with Toshihiro Nikai from Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party during a 2015 China-Japan friendship exchange meeting in Beijing. Photo: Reuters

Toshihiro Nikai, secretary general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, delivers a speech upon being conferred an honorary professorship at Tsinghua University in Beijing on Dec. 27, 2017. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

(210107) -- TOKYO, Jan. 7, 2021 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga attends a news conference at the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Tokyo, Japan, on Jan. 7, 2021. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a state of emergency in the Tokyo metropolitan area including Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures on Thursday, authorizing tougher measures to fight a resurgence in COVID-19 infections. The state of emergency will be effective from Friday to Feb. 7, with measures including urging people to stay at home and calling for restaurants and bars to stop serving alcohol by 7 p.m. and close by 8 p.m. (Kiyoshi Ota/Pool via Xinhua)

Japan’s Suga faces make-or-break election year as coronavirus rages, Olympics loom

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is facing criticism for a third wave of coronavirus cases that appears to have been exacerbated by his drive to restart economic activity. Photo: Kyodo

People wearing face masks to help prevent the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus walk along Sensoji temple shopping street in the Asakusa district of Tokyo on January 2, 2021. - Tokyo's governor asked the central government to declare a new state of emergency as the country battles a third wave of coronavirus, with the capital reporting record new cases. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)

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The shock announcement comes with Suga’s approval ratings at an all-time low over his government’s handling of its coronavirus response
He had been widely expected to seek re-election as LDP leader in a vote set for September 29 and had dropped no hints of his plans to leave office



The shock announcement comes with Suga’s approval ratings at an all-time low over his government’s handling of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.


Japan

Coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

Japan PM Yoshihide Suga to resign after just 1 year in post

The shock announcement comes with Suga’s approval ratings at an all-time low over his government’s handling of its coronavirus response He had been widely expected to seek re-election as LDP leader in a vote set for September 29 and had dropped no hints of his plans to leave office

The shock announcement comes with Suga’s approval ratings at an all-time low over his government’s handling of its coronavirus response

He had been widely expected to seek re-election as LDP leader in a vote set for September 29 and had dropped no hints of his plans to leave office