[TOKYO] Less than a year after becoming prime minister of Japan, Yoshihide Suga said Friday that he would not seek reelection as chief of the governing party, paving the way for a new leader after his historically unpopular tenure. 

In remarks to reporters Friday, Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of the Liberal Democrats, announced that Mr Suga had informed him in the morning that he would not run for party president in the leadership election late this month.

Mr Nikai said the prime minister instead “wanted to focus on the prevention of the coronavirus.” 

Mr Suga also informed Mr Nikai that he had withdrawn his plan to reshuffle the executive leadership of the party.

The race to replace Mr Suga in the Sept 29 vote for leader of the Liberal Democrats appears relatively open. 

Fumio Kishida, the former foreign minister, is the only declared candidate, though the communications minister, Sanae Takaichi, has expressed interest. 

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The winner of the party leadership race will be the heavy favorite to become prime minister after a general election that must be held by late next month.

The Liberal Democrats have held power in Japan for almost the entire postwar era, and the political opposition has been in disarray for the past decade, after being blamed for a mismanaged response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

NYTimes