Ex-minister eyes Suga's job, report says

TOKYO－The former foreign minister of Japan is likely to run in the ruling party's leadership race in September, reported the Sankei newspaper on Monday.

Fumio Kishida is likely to formally announce his candidacy when the date of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's leadership race is fixed, said the paper, citing several anonymous sources.

The party will decide on Thursday when to hold the race, with the most likely date seen as Sept 29.

An ally of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga backed by the LDP, Hachiro Okonogi, son of Suga's political mentor and a former cabinet minister, lost a mayoral race in Yokohama on Sunday, which is a blow to Suga, who has seen his popularity plunge due to his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan candidate Takeharu Yamanaka, a former professor of public health, won by a landslide in Suga's constituency near Tokyo.

Suga, whose term as ruling LDP leader ends next month, has seen his support slide from highs of about 70 percent to below 30 percent, with a weekend poll by ANN News putting support at 25.8 percent as Japan battles an explosive surge of COVID-19 infections.

If Suga loses, he would join a long list of short-term premiers. He took over in September after Shinzo Abe quit, citing ill health and ending a rare lengthy term of nearly eight years.

"The LDP is being severely criticized in my constituency, so it's very hard to fight under Suga," said a junior LDP lawmaker from a conservative rural district, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Such views are expected to spread. "For certain, voices saying they can't fight the general election under Suga will grow louder," said political analyst Atsuo Ito. "The chances of multiple candidates (in the LDP race) will increase."

Still, uncertainty remains. Suga told reporters on Monday there was no change in his plan to run in the LDP poll. No party bosses who backed Suga last year have publicly withdrawn support.

"We should not change the ship's captain in the midst of a storm," said one senior LDP lawmaker ahead of the mayoral vote.

Agencies Via Xinhua