The clock is ticking for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. A continued decline in public support for his cabinet and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has his party’s lawmakers nervous about their prospects in future elections, while senior members of the LDP are angry with the prime minister over his handling of recent scandals.
Kishida says he is focused solely on his job and serving the country, hoping that success in government will turn around his poor approval ratings. That is possible, but unlikely. The prime minister has proven himself both stubborn and resilient, and he may be hoping that the party will rally around him to avoid an open, contested leadership election that would expose the LDP’s divisions.
The LDP president serves as prime minister when the party maintains a majority in the Diet—as it has for most of the postwar period. The LDP will hold a leadership election in September, and Kishida is seeking a second term as party president and prime minister.
