TOKYO: Japan’s ruling party on Tuesday kicked off the race to pick Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s successor, with his powerful right-hand man Yoshihide Suga commanding an all-but-insurmountable lead.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga, the 71-year-old son of a strawberry farmer, has already secured the support of major factions in the Liberal Democratic Party ahead of its leadership vote on September 14.

But he isn’t running unchallenged, with a popular former defence minister and the party’s policy chief standing against him.

Thanks to the LDP’s solid legislative majority, the race’s winner is certain to win a parliamentary vote on September 16 and be named the country’s next prime minister.

The LDP race began after Abe, Japan’s longest-serving premier, abruptly announced late August that he would resign for health reasons.

There is now speculation that the next prime minister may call a snap election to shore up public support.

But Suga hinted that an immediate general election would be unlikely, saying a new cabinet should make its top priority fighting the pandemic.

“What people most expect from the government is to curb infections and regain a secure way of life as soon as possible,” Suga said at a press conference with his contenders.

Representatives for Suga and his rivals — former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba and party policy chief Fumio Kishida — formally registered their candidacies on Tuesday morning.

Suga said he had decided to run to help avoid a “political vacuum” after Abe’s departure, and that he would prioritise coronavirus containment while rebuilding an economy now in recession.

Ishiba meanwhile pledged a “great reset”, and said he would “pour my whole body and soul into regional revitalisation”.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2020