In Japan Election, Fourth in Polls Could Mean First Past Post
- Surveys show public disapproves of Suga’s handling of Covid
- Unpopular Suga may keep his job as party leader and premier
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In Japanese politics, you can run in fourth place and still come out on top, as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga could demonstrate. He’s trailing three other potential premiers in the latest opinion poll and still appears set to keep his spot as ruling party chief in a looming vote.
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has an election for its leader on Sept. 29 and Suga was the public’s fourth-most popular choice in a survey carried out by the Nikkei newspaper Aug. 27-29. He trailed Administrative Reform Minister Taro Kono, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida.