Japan Considers Oct. 17 Election As PM Ratings Hit Record Lows

The Japanese government is considering holding a general election on Oct. 17, Kyodo news said on Monday citing government sources, even as public support for Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga hits record lows in two new opinion polls.

Suga has failed to capitalise on delivering the Olympics for the country, currently being hit hard by a fresh wave of coronavirus infections. The government has declared a fourth state of emergency in most of the country amid a sluggish vaccination rollout.

The Mainichi newspaper poll showed public support for Suga had slid below 30% for the first time, to a dismal 26%. The Nikkei daily put his ratings at 34%, in line with a record low hit in its survey last month.

If the general election plan is approved at a cabinet meeting, it would mean Suga will not call a snap election but instead allow the members of the lower house of parliament to serve out their full terms.

But before the general election takes place, Suga faces a challenge for the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), due for Sept. 29, whose winner is all but assured of being premier due to the LDP’s majority in the lower house.

Public support ratings are watched particularly closely because the new party chief will lead the LDP in the general election.

One of the polls showed that Suga’s possible rivals for the party leader job, such as Administrative Reform Minister Taro Kono, in charge of Japan’s vaccination push, and former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba, were more popular with the public.

The 72-year-old prime minister also faced criticism from writer Haruki Murakami, who in rare public comments said that if the premier was able to see a way out of the pandemic, “he must have very good eyesight for his age”.