Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is seen on a live TV broadcast in Tokyo’s Shinjuku area on Thursday, after Japan announced that a virus state of emergency in Tokyo and several other regions will be lifted on June 20. Photo: AFP
Yokohama voters were casting ballots for mayor on Sunday in an election expected to affect unpopular Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s prospects for keeping his post amid a COVID-19 surge across Japan.
A loss by the Suga-backed Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) candidate in Suga’s home turf just south of Tokyo would pile pressure on the premier, whose approval ratings slid below 30 percent in August, fanning concerns in the LDP about his ability to lead into a general election in 2021.
Suga, who took office in September 2020 after predecessor Shinzo Abe quit citing ill health, is struggling to contain the coronavirus pandemic, with national daily COVID-19 infections hitting a record 25,000 last week.
Hachiro Okonogi, backed by Suga, is running in a crowded field of eight including the incumbent mayor, two former governors and opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan candidate Takeharu Yamanaka, a professor of public health.
Although Yokohama is in Suga’s constituency in parliament, a survey conducted by a local newspaper in mid-August found Okonogi trailing Yamanaka, reflecting concerns over the government’s handling of the pandemic.
Kanagawa, the prefecture where Yokohama is located, has been under a state of emergency since August 2, but infections have continued to rise. The prefecture recorded a record 2,878 cases on Friday, according to public broadcaster NHK.
Suga’s term as LDP president ends in September. A general election must be held by November 28.
Reuters
