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Faced with widespread criticism and nosediving public support over his COVID response, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has announced he will bow out of the country's party leadership elections.
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Suga told reporters today that leading Japan's pandemic response while campaigning to lead his governing Liberal Democratic Party divided his energies. So, he has decided to zero in on fighting COVID in lieu of campaigning for party leadership elections.
Citing protecting people's lives and health as his top priority currently, Suga said he will dedicate himself to that.
The Liberal Democratic Party has the majority of Parliament, which means the new Prime Minister will likely be the person winning the September 29 party election.
Two potential candidates are dovish former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, and former Interior Minister Sanae Takaichi, who will likely ensure the ultra-rightwing ideologies of Abe would continue.
Suga took office in mid-September last year after taking over Shinzo Abe, the former Japanese Prime Minister who resigned due to health problems.
Despite having enjoyed supporting ratings as high as 70 percent early in his tenure, his pragmatic measures ranging from digital transformation to administrative reforms still failed to win majority support. His support ratings plummeted due to his slow virus response, and a lack of effective anti-virus measures to avert more outbreaks.
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