Japan's Prime Minister to Step Down

  After marking just one year in office, Japan's Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga announced Friday that he would not be running in the elections that will be held later this month. 

The 72-year-old Prime Minister's public approval has drastically declined to under 30%, due to his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and for hosting the 2020 Olympics this summer against hesitations from health experts and the wide public. Suga's successor as Liberal Democratic Parties President is expected to take over as Prime Minister in the next elections is generally favored, but if opposition parties win the majority, an opposition leader would become prime minister. 

Prime Minister Suga faced scrutiny although he gave frequent news conferences, didn't take vacations, worked on weekends, and by informing the public around the variant crisis. Favor for Mr. Suga began to decline when numbers in cases started to rise and vaccines weren't enforced at the speed they should have been. It's when he began to miss lines in his August 6th commemoration of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, that his gaffes began to multiply. Many ruling-party members even criticized the cabinet's delays in decision-making and its inadequate explanations.

In July, Suga's party failed to win the majority in one local election that was seen as a key indicator of voter attitudes. Not only that, he lost the mayoral election in Yokohama last month. 

The main concern is not that the next leader will change basic policies such as its alliance with the U.S., but that being the World's third-largest economy would create another period resembling the 1990's and 3006-2012, when Prime Ministers would change nearly every year and the country's profile on the international stage would wither. 

One of the potential candidates who is looking to succeed Suga is former Foreign Minister, Fumio Kishida. Along with former government minister Sanae Takaichi, and Minister in charge of vaccinations Taro Kono, has been weighing a run as a means of accelerating the country's vaccine deployment, and proposing big economic-stimulus programs.

Something to consider is how Suga's decision to step down will lead to a period of political uncertainty in Japan especially at a time when the Biden administration is seeking to restore alliances that were exhausted during the Trump administration. South Korea is also set to have its presidential election next spring which creates even more tension on two of the U.S.'s most critical allies which could affect U.S. policy on issues regarding North Korea's nuclear threat and strategic competition with China.