Abe seeks fresh term, record tenure as Japan’s PM

Shinzo Abe confirmed on Sunday he would run in his ruling party’s leadership election, putting him on track to become Japan’s longest-serving premier and bolstering his dream of reforming the constitution.

Abe is expected to be reelected head of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) easily, with the vast majority of lawmakers behind him and only one challenger, former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba.

“I have decided to lead Japan as the LDP leader and the prime minister for three more years, and with this determination, I will run for the leadership election next month,” Abe told reporters.

Winning the September 20 run-off would effectively keep the hawkish Abe in power for another three-year term at the helm of the world’s thirdlargest economy, with no real political party opposition to speak of. Abe pledged Sunday to focus on the demographic issues raised by Japan’s rapidly ageing society as well as the “tumultuous changing international situation.”

His rival Ishiba has also identified demographic concerns and the regional security threat from nuclear-armed North Korea as the two biggest challenges facing Japan.

In April, Abe found himself on the ropes amid twin cronyism scandals that reignited the debate over whether he had sufficient backing to win a third-term as LDP leader as his approval ratings dipped.

But Mikitaka Masuyama, professor of political science at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, predicted the election would be a “landslide victory for Abe.