Foreign Desk Report
TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said in a surprise move on Friday he would step down, setting the stage for a new premier after a one-year tenure marred by an unpopular COVID-19 response and sinking public support.Suga, who took over after Shinzo Abe resigned last September citing ill health, has seen his approval ratings drop below 30% as the nation struggles with its worst wave of COVID-19 infections ahead of a general election this year.
Suga did not capitalize on his last major achievement, hosting the Olympics, which were postponed months before he took office as coronavirus cases surged.
His decision not to seek reelection as ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president this month means the party will choose a new leader, who will become prime minister. There is no clear frontrunner but the popular minister in charge of Japan’s vaccination rollout, Taro Kono, intends to run, reports said on Friday. Former foreign minister Fumio Kishida has already thrown his hat in the ring.
Before Abe’s record eight-year tenure, the country had gone through six prime ministers in as many years, including Abe’s own troubled first one-year term.
