Regarding the selection of the successor to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso, respectively, have decided to support the Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.
Yoshihide Suga has been Abe's right-hand man since the end of 2012. He has been at the highest decision-making level for nearly 8 years and his influence within the party cannot be underestimated.
Kyodo News reported from the Liberal Democratic Party that the second-tier faction held a high-level meeting on August 31 and formally decided to support Suga Yoshihide in the party president election.
There are 7 main factions in the Liberal Democratic Party. The second-order faction is the fourth largest faction. There are 47 members of Congress.
Kyodo News reported that on the evening of August 29, Yoshihide Suga met with the second-tier and other high-level party leaders to indicate his intention to run for party president. At that time, the second-tier encouraged him to "cheer."
Aso himself has no intention of running for party president.
The Aso faction led by him is the second largest faction in the party, with 54 members of Congress. It also decided to support Suga Yoshihide on the 31st.
Yoshihide Suga recently met with party “elders” Hiroyuki Hosoda and Mizuo Aoki to seek support.
Hosoda leads the Hosoda faction, the largest faction in the Liberal Democratic Party, including 98 members of Congress.
Aoki is a former Liberal Democratic Party member of the Senate and still has influence in the Senate.
Yoshihide Suga does not belong to any faction in the Liberal Democratic Party and has close relations with some non-affiliated lawmakers.
About 60 Liberal Democratic Party members of Congress have no factions.
Yoshihide Suga did not formally announce his candidacy for party president.
Kyodo News reported from party members that he intends to formally announce his election within one or two days after the Liberal Democratic Party’s General Affairs Council confirmed the election schedule on September 1.
The General Affairs Council of the Liberal Democratic Party is expected to determine the date and method of party president election.
Kyodo News reported that the General Affairs Council expected to hold a plenary meeting of members of both houses of the Congress on September 14 to replace the party convention and elect a new president.
To simplify the procedure, it may be decided to skip voting by local party members and supporters.
Skipping places to vote has caused dissatisfaction among some party members.
On the afternoon of August 31, the head of the Youth Bureau of the Liberal Democratic Party and Representative Kobayashi Fumiaki and others asked the second order to vote for local party members and supporters at the party headquarters.
More than 140 members of Congress, including the chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party’s election strategy and the former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Hirofumi Shimomura, the former secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, and Shigeru Ishiba, another strong successor to Abe, signed the agreement.
In addition to members of Congress, about 400 local Liberal Democratic Party members also support the holding of local party members and supporters to vote.
In the opinion poll on the candidate for the next prime minister released by Kyodo News on the 30th, Ishiba received the highest approval rate of 34.3%, and Suga Yoshihide’s 14.3%.
However, the Shipo faction led by Shipo is relatively small in the Liberal Democratic Party faction, with only 19 members of Congress.
Kyodo News explained that simplifying the voting procedures may pose a fatal blow to Ishipo’s elected prime minister. (Liu Xiuling) (Xinhua News Agency special feature)