Japan’s PM staying put for next 3 years

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced on Sunday his candidacy for a ruling Liberal Democratic Party leadership election that he is expected to win despite flat ratings and low expectations for his economic policies.

The expected victory over ex-defence minister Shigeru Ishiba in the Sept 20 party poll would put him on track to become Japan’s longest-serving premier. The winner becomes prime minister due to the LDP-led coalition’s grip on parliament.

“It is my responsibility to respond to the mandate of the people,” Abe told reporters during a trip to southwestern Japan. “I am resolved to steer Japan for another three years as LDP president and prime minister.”

Analysts say Abe looks set hold on to the top job because his nearly six years in power have enabled him to woo LDP backers with cabinet posts and other favors and to shut out rivals, while a weak opposition makes his lukewarm popularity among the electorate less relevant.

Abe began a second stint as prime minister in 2012 promising to reboot the deflationplagued economy with his “Abenomics” policies and to bolster defense.

He has boosted military spending and loosened constitutional limits on the military but, on the economic side, the Bank of Japan has failed to reach its 2 percent inflation target despite an ultraloose policy.

What Abe will pursue if he wins the vote and extends his tenure as prime minister is far from clear.

“What is the economic agenda? The answer is stability — don’t rock the boat,” said Jesper Koll, head of equities fund WisdomTree Japan.

On the security front, Abe wants to revise the postwar constitution’s pacifist Article 9 to clarify the ambiguous status of Japan’s military. The article, if taken literally, bans maintenance of armed forces but it has been interpreted to allow a military for self-defense.

Whether he will make the attempt is in doubt, since the proposal is controversial and the process is politically risky. Amendments need approval by two-thirds of both houses of parliament and a majority in a referendum.

“The only concrete item on his agenda I can see is constitutional revision, and that is unlikely to fly,” said Columbia University emeritus professor Gerry Curtis.