Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigns — 'Post Abe' is key to the style of presidential election

Japan's longest serving prime minister has resigned due to health concerns with ulcerative colitis. As of 2:50 pm, NHK and other national newspapers such as Asahi, Yomiuri, Mainichi, and commercial broadcasters have reported that Prime Minister Abe has decided to leave.

Is it judged that the chronic illness is worse and it is difficult to continue working?
According to the Kyodo News Agency, Prime Minister Abe decided that it would be difficult to continue his duties because his physical condition deteriorated.

Prime Minister Abe has a chronic ulcerative colitis disease, and the first Abe administration (September 2006-September 2007) has retired in one year because of poor health.

On August 17th and 24th, he was examined at the Keio University Hospital in Shinanomachi, Tokyo, and he was told that he was uncertain about his health.



Yoshikazu Suga, Chief Cabinet Secretary, who is the head of the cabinet, has been eager to cancel the prime minister's theory of health anxiety.

On August 21, he appeared on TV Asahi's "News Station" and said, "I will meet with Prime Minister about twice a day, but I don't think I can change as usual."

In an interview with Bloomberg on August 27, Mr. Sagu indicated that Prime Minister Abe would complete his duties until September next year (quoted below).


What happens to the presidential election? Whether to include local party members or the general assembly of both Houses
As soon as the new LDP president is elected, the Abe cabinet is expected to resign. The presidential election is expected to be held in September.

The new president will take over the term of office of Prime Minister Abe, and his term will be until September next year.

The focus is on how to decide on the next president-that is, how to elect the president.



However, this does not apply if the president retires during his term of office.

Article 6 of the Party Regulations states that " whenurgent, you can elect a successor at the general assemblyboth Houses, which replaces the party convention ." In this case, it is decided by the Diet member's vote (396 votes) and the representative of the prefectural federation (141 votes). It is considered to be an advantage to be able to select the next president in a short period of time.

Post Abe, 4 potential candidates
At present, the names of Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga, Fumio Kishida, Chairman of the Board, Shigeru Ishiba, and Defense Minister Taro Kono are listed as promising candidates for post-Abe.

They are activating their activities around the time when Prime Minister Abe's theory of physical anxiety was heard.

Yoshikazu Suga, Chief Cabinet Secretary
Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga denied that he did not think he would be asked if he wanted to become the prime minister when he appeared on the "News Station" on the 21st.

Taro Kono, Minister of Defense
Defense Minister Taro Kono, who said "I have been aiming for the prime minister since my first election," has also been increasing its presence since he announced that the deployment plan for the land-based ballistic missile interceptor missile system "Aegis Ashore" was suspended. ..


Fumio Kishida, Chairman of Government Affairs
It is said that Mr. Kishida is aiming for "Zen concession" from Prime Minister Abe, but he is struggling to appeal as a candidate for the next president.

There is also a view within the party that Mr. Kishida will receive "Zen concession" at the election of the president by the members of the House of Representatives.

Shigeru Ishiba, former secretary general
With this in mind, the top-ranked opinion poll is Shigeru Ishiba, former secretary general who fought three times with Prime Minister Abe.

Mr. Ishiba repeatedly complained to the Abe administration from within the party that he surpassed Prime Minister Abe in the local vote of the presidential election in 2012 and brought it to the decisive vote.

Mr. Ishiba, who is said to be popular in rural areas, said that he will be rewarded if he dismisses the party members regarding the post-Abe presidential election in November 2019.

Mr. Ishiba, who is unpopular among the members of the Diet because of his history of leaving the LDP and returning to the party in the past, has been reported by media that says the popularity of the party is on the rise.

Whether to open the presidential election, which also heard the voices of local party members, or to decide at the general assembly of both Houses that there is no hole for measures against the new corona?

With the expiration of the term of the House of Representatives in October 2020, it is expected that the next president will have a “face of election”.



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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set to resign over 'health' issues