Shinzo Abe Set To Be Japan's Longest-Serving PM After Winning Party Vote

Shinzo Abe

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to become Japan’s longest-serving premier after a comfortable re-election as leader of his ruling party on Thursday.

Abe secured 553 votes against 254 won by former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba, a hawkish self-confessed “military geek”, in a two-horse race for leader of the Liberal Democratic Party.

The win effectively hands Abe three more years as PM, giving him the chance of breaking the record for the nation’s longest-serving premiership held by Taro Katsura, a revered politician who served three times between 1901 and 1913.

To loud cheers of “banzai” - the Japanese equivalent of “three cheers” - from party members, a grinning Abe said: “The battle is over. Let’s build a new Japan by joining hands and uniting.”

Shinichi Nishikawa, professor of politics at Meiji University in Tokyo, told AFP that the vote was effectively a referendum on Abe’s record that he successfully negotiated.

“But he can’t wholeheartedly welcome the result as he couldn’t win overwhelmingly.”

Public support for Abe - a political thoroughbred whose grandfather and father both held power - has recovered after he managed to survive a series of cronyism and cover-up scandals.





Disclaimer: Stories culled and pictures posted on this blog will be given due credit and is not the fault of drifternews.blogspot.com if website culled from misrepresents source of story.