Another Three Years of Abe

On Tuesday Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) awarded Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a new three-year term as the party’s leader. Despite rumors that he might face a challenger—Seiko Noda, a prominent critic of Mr. Abe and a promising female parliamentarian, expressed interest in running—no candidate could garner the 20 nominations necessary to enter the race, and the prime minister was re-elected uncontested. This was a fortunate break for Mr. Abe, after a summer in which he faced falling approval ratings and sizable protests against his government’s security policies.

This article appeared in the Wall Street Journal on Sept. 10, 2015. Continue reading here.