TIL Desk/World/Tokyo/ Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appears headed for a third three-year term as ruling party leader, extending his hold on power and giving him time to pursue a long-cherished goal revising his country’s post-World War II constitution.
Abe reportedly has the support of a large majority of party representatives ahead of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s September 20 leadership vote. “I will take on the task of revising the constitution, a postwar challenge that has never been achieved, in order to open a new era,” Abe said Friday in a televised debate with his only challenger, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
The 63 year-old Abe, prime minister since December 2012, is poised to become Japan’s longest-serving leader with a third term. He reportedly has the support of 70 per cent of the 405 parliament members from his party, and is expected to win about 60 per cent of the other 405 votes allocated to regional rank-and-file members, according to media surveys.
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