Japan’s prime minister is unlikely to survive beyond the end of his term as LDP leader in September.
scandal that has eroded public trust in Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration and upended the governing party’s system of political factions.
Kishida reshuffled his cabinet in December to try to contain the damage, purging the Abe faction from government and LDP leadership. But the reshuffle and political repositioning has had no effect on public opinion.A Mainichi Shimbun poll in mid-December showed Kishida’s cabinet approval rating dropping to 16 per cent, while his disapproval rating skyrocketed to 79 per cent – theKishida then announced he would lead a 38-person political reform taskforce.
With this deadlock, Kishida announced his own Kochikai faction would disband, and left it up to other factions to decide their own fate. But given these committees are toothless, and that opposition parties remain weak and divided, the meetings have so far been nothing more than political spectacle. A JNN poll found 86 per cent of the public was dissatisfied with the explanations to the ethics committee by Abe and Nikai faction leaders.
Suga is said to be backing reform-minded candidates such as Digital Economy Minister Taro Kono, former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba, and former environment minister Shinjiro Koizumi to cast off the LDP’s negative public image.Ishiba, who has run for the leadership four times before, is the public’s preferred choice for next prime minister, but his unpopularity with other LDP members jeopardises his chances.