Japan's Prime Minister Suga To Resign On Sept. 30: What You Need To Know

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced he's resigning on Sept. 30, barely one year after he took the reins of power.

What Happened: The Japan Times reported that Suga, who took office on Sept. 16, 2020, made his announcement ahead of the upcoming leadership election of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), where he holds the title of party president.

"In the one year since I became the prime minister, I've been doing my utmost to tackle various issues, especially on coronavirus measures," said Suga at a Friday news conference. "The campaign for the LDP presidential election officially kicks off on the 17th, but I realized it would take up enormous energy working on the coronavirus measures and campaigning – it's impossible to do both.

"I've made a decision to concentrate on preventing the virus from spreading further, the promise I've made to the people repeatedly."

Suga added that he will hold a follow-up news conference to further explain his decision.

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Why It Happened: Suga came to office as Japan was struggling to get a handle on the COVID-19 crisis. The government's lethargic rollout of its vaccination campaign, coupled with its insistence on hosting the Tokyo Olympics despite repeated health emergency declarations in the capital city, quickly eroded public support of his administration to the point that his favorability ratings in opinion polls were in the dismal 30% range.

Even worse, the ruling LDP began to lose multiple regional elections, including an embarrassing defeat in the mayoral election in Yokohama, the prime minister's district. Suga's announced plans to reshuffle his cabinet coupled with rumors that he would call a snap election that would have delayed the party presidential vote further isolated him from LDP membership.

What's Next: With Suga stepping away, many observers of Japan's political environment are predicting the LDP leadership role — and, subsequently, the prime minister's position — could go to one of two candidates.

Taro Kono, the current Minister for Administrative Reform and Regulatory Reform and former Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defense, is widely seen as the frontrunner for the job. However, a precedent-breaking candidate attracting increased attention is Sanae Takaichi, who held several cabinet positions under Suga's predecessor, Shinzo Abe, and would become Japan's first female prime minister.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons.