Japan PM Suga to replace key party ally ahead of election -media (updated)
31/08/2021 02:23
* Suga set to reshuffle LDP executive to boost his support
-media
* Reshuffle set to take place next week -media
* LDP faces uphill battle in upcoming general election
* Suga to order economic stimulus, extra budget -Kyodo
(Adds stimulus, details)
By Antoni Slodkowski and Leika Kihara
TOKYO, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide
Suga is set to replace an unpopular long-term ally as he seeks
to shore up support ahead of a party leadership election he must
win before the general election planned for October, media said
on Tuesday.
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Secretary General Toshihiro
Nikai told Suga he would step down at a meeting on Monday, the
reports said.
"I've been in the Secretary General post for more than five
years, I want you to do the reshuffle without hesitation," Nikai
told Suga, according to the public broadcaster NHK.
Nikai was instrumental in helping Suga become prime minister
last year and was also the first among LDP faction chiefs to
throw his group's support behind the premier in this year's
contest.
But some parliamentarians have voiced their unease with the
amount of power wielded by Nikai, 82, who has held the key LDP
post, with control over campaign funds, since August 2016 - the
longest in the party's history.
Suga's rival for the party leader, former foreign minister
Fumio Kishida, sparked ire from Nikai after he proposed https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japans-suga-faces-likely-challenge-sept-29-party-poll-2021-08-25
limits on executive posts and promised to promote young and
middle-level lawmakers over heavyweights last week.
The proposal was seen as Kishida's bid to attract grassroots
LDP members who, unlike last year, will vote along with members
of parliament and who, fearful of losing their seats, may be
wary of following their elders' orders.
The reshuffle of the party executive, including Nikai, was
set to take place next week, Kyodo news agency reported. Suga
will instruct his party and government to craft economic
stimulus measures and an extra budget to help fund them within
the week, Kyodo reported, citing an unnamed senior ruling party
official. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2Q2290
PARTY GRANDEES
Suga's move was "without a doubt" aimed at helping him win
the backing of party grandees, such as Suga's predecessor,
Shinzo Abe, and Finance Minister Taro Aso, said Corey Wallace,
assistant professor at Kanagawa University.
"It's about the use of party funds and distributing party
posts," Wallace said. "Nikai wasn't particularly popular inside
the party and I don't think anybody would've tolerated him any
longer after his record-long run."
Abe's stance will be particularly closely watched given his
influence inside two largest factions of the LDP - his own
Hosoda group and the second-largest faction led by Aso - as well
as among the conservative wing of the LDP, experts say.
Ten members of the LDP upper house members close to Suga,
who don't belong to any party faction, confirmed on Tuesday that
they would back the premier in the leadership race.
The winner of the party chief contest is all but assured of
being the premier due to the LDP's majority in the lower house
and will guide the party through a general election, with the
government considering a plan to hold the poll on Oct. 17.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2Q10DJ
Suga's support ratings are at record lows as he failed to
capitalise on delivering the Olympics for the country, being hit
hard by a fresh wave of coronavirus infections. The government
has declared a fourth state of emergency in most of Japan amid a
sluggish vaccination rollout.
An opinion poll on Monday showed https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-politics-suga-idUSKBN2FV0CC
Suga's possible rivals for the LDP 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.
Both Kono and Ishiba have not decided whether to run.
The LDP and its allies are not expected to lose their
coalition majority in the powerful lower house, but forecasts
suggest that Suga's party could lose its outright majority, an
outcome that would weaken whoever is leading the LDP.
(Reporting by Leika Kihara and Antoni Slodkowski; Additional
reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka, Daniel Leussink and Tetsushi
Kajimoto; Editing by Stephen Coates, Gerry Doyle and Nick
Macfie)
((leika.kihara@thomsonreuters.com; +813-6441-1828; Reuters
Messaging: leika.kihara.reuters.com@reuters.net))