TOKYO: Shinzo Abe confirmed Sunday (Aug 26) he would run in his ruling party’s leadership election, putting him on track to become Japan’s…
TOKYO: Shinzo Abe confirmed Sunday (Aug 26) he would run in his ruling party’s leadership election, putting him on track to become Japan’s longest-serving premier and bolstering his dream of reforming the constitution.
Abe is expected to be re-elected head of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) easily, with the vast majority of lawmakers behind him and only one challenger, former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba.
« I have decided to lead Japan as the LDP leader and the prime minister for three more years, and with this determination I will run for the leadership election next month, » Abe said in a press conference broadcast live from western Kagoshima prefecture.
Winning the Sep 20 run-off would effectively keep the hawkish Abe in power for another three-year term at the helm of the world’s third-largest economy, with no real political party opposition to speak of.
