Explainer | Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga resigns: what happens now and is Shinzo Abe preparing to return?
- Suga’s popularity has plummeted in recent months and party leaders began to regard him as a political liability with an election looming
- The immediate question of who succeeds Suga may be complicated by speculation that Abe is preparing for a third stint as prime minister
After months of sliding approval ratings, Yoshihide Suga called time on his short and troubled stint as Japan’s prime minister on Friday, announcing he would not stand for re-election as leader of the Liberal Democratic Party when it votes later this month.
The news has caught many in Japanese politics by surprise, and leaves the door wide open as to who will succeed him. While Suga’s former rival for the top job Fumio Kishida is widely seen as the frontrunner, the decision has also prompted speculation about whether Shinzo Abe – Suga’s predecessor as prime minister – intends to run for an unprecedented third term. Another outside possibility is that Sanae Takaichi could become the country’s first female premier.
Suga, whose premiership will have lasted little more than a year, will stay on until his replacement is elected on September 29, at which point the new party president will also become Japan’s prime minister.
