Two years after the death of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the conservatives of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) – once the party’s dominant group – are going through a period of introspection. It remains to be seen whether they can play a decisive role in the party’s leadership race in September.
To mark the second anniversary of Abe’s death, lawmakers who once belonged to his faction visited his grave in Yamaguchi Prefecture on Monday in three separate groups, a sign of their deep-seated divisions.
The absence of a figure like Abe, who could embody conservative ideals and build broad consensus within the party, has weighed heavily on conservatives, whose political fortunes have been dented by the slush fund scandal.
