Japan election: former Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide of the Liberal Democratic Party will keep a seat.
In the Kanagawa No. 2 district, just south of Tokyo, 2 candidates are competing for a single seat. Kishida’s predecessor and a single opposition candidate are facing off.
Suga became the 99th prime minister in September last year, succeeding Abe Shinzo. He opted not to run for a second LDP leadership term, after spending roughly a year leading the country through the coronavirus pandemic. Over that time approval ratings for Suga’s Cabinet took a major tumble. He said his reason for not joining the LDP leadership race was to focus on anti-virus measures.
Opposition forces joined together in this district to support Okamoto Eiko of the Constitutional Democratic Party. It’s part of a nation-wide strategy to avoid vote-splitting. The Communist Party decided not to field its own candidate.
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