Japan PM Suga could call general election early next year or after Olympics: Adviser

Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga could call for general election either at the beginning of 2021 or after the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics end in September. In an interview with Bloomberg, Hiroshi Miura, who specialises in election planning and who Suga picked as his breakfast guest the morning after he was installed as the new premier by parliament, said that the Japanese PM can call for an election in January February or after August. 

Suga came into office with some of the highest support rates on record for a new PM, with a few heavyweights in his ruling Liberal Democratic Party recommending a shift vote to take advantage of the solid footing. With only a year to go on the lower house term, Suga has little time to waste, however, he has repeatedly said that his current priority is tackling the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic and the economic fallout, rather than elections. 

If the election is held ahead or during the Tokyo Olympics, Miura said that the decision could cause an ‘undesirable vacuum’ in management. He added that if Suga decides to call for an election after the Paralympics, which end September 5, then the PM will have only a two-week window until the September 21 deadline. While Miura said that he believes that Suga will win, either way, he also added that what the PM has now is not so much real support, but expectations. He said that by responding to those expectations properly, one by one, he will gain real, settled support. 

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Challenges faced by Japan PM 

As Suga took over the reins as the country’s PM, it also meant that he inherited all the tough challenges faced by Abe. One of the toughest challenges he is facing is the handling of coronavirus pandemic as Abe also faced backlash over virus response during the second wave. 

Additionally, Japan’s economy witnessed a record 7.8 per cent contraction in the first quarter, its worst in the post-war period. Abe was known for his signature economic strategy of "Abenomics", a portmanteau of Abe and economics, but the pandemic has undone whatever the little progress made on that front by the island nation.

Currently, all eyes are on Suga whether he follows Abenomics or choose his own path for economic recovery in the post-pandemic period. Suga will be finishing the rest of the current term until elections in September 2021 and any dramatic shift in key policy decisions is highly unlikely. However, if Suga opts to follow the economic policies of Abe without any success, it could backfire in the next elections.

(Image: AP)

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