2020 Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) presidential election

For the 2020 Liberal Democrats UK leadership election, see 2020 Liberal Democrats leadership election.

2020 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election
← 2018 14 September 2020[1] 2021 →
 
Candidate Yoshihide Suga Fumio Kishida Shigeru Ishiba
Leader's seat Kanagawa 2nd Hiroshima 1st Tottori 1st
LDP MPs 288 (73.28%) 79 (20.10%) 26 (6.62%)
Prefectural chapters 89 (63.12%) 10 (7.09%) 42 (29.79%)
Total votes 377 (70.60%) 89 (16.67%) 68 (12.73%)
Election results
President before election

Shinzo Abe

 Elected President

Yoshihide Suga

The 2020 Liberal Democratic Party of Japan presidential election was triggered by Shinzo Abe's announcement on 28 August 2020 that he would resign as President of the Liberal Democratic Party and Prime Minister of Japan, citing a relapse of his colitis. Voting took place on 14 September 2020 to elect the next president of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, three days before the National Diet was scheduled to hold a session to elect the new prime minister.[1] Initially scheduled to be held in September 2021, incumbent LDP president and the longest-serving Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, suddenly resigned on 28 August 2020, citing recent health concerns, prompting an election to select the President to serve the rest of Abe's term.[2][3][4]

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga easily won the election, securing endorsements from a majority of voting members of the party in the days preceding the vote.[5] As the Liberal Democratic Party controlled a majority in the National Diet as a member of the governing coalition, Suga successfully succeeded Abe as Prime Minister of Japan on 16 September 2020. His principal rival, Fumio Kishida, later succeeded him as prime minister after Suga's resignation in October 2021. The third-placed candidate, Shigeru Ishiba, would eventually succeed Kishida in 2024 after the latter also resigned the party leadership and the premiership.

  1. ^ a b "Japan's Shinzo Abe steps down as PM due to health concerns". The Asahi Shimbun. 31 August 2020. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  2. ^ "Shinzo Abe: Japan's PM resigns for health reasons". BBC News. 28 August 2020. Archived from the original on 28 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  3. ^ "Japan's PM Shinzo Abe resigns because of ill-health". Al Jazeera. 28 August 2020. Archived from the original on 28 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  4. ^ "Japan's Shinzo Abe steps down as PM due to health concerns". National Post. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  5. ^ Sugiyama, Satoshi (14 September 2020). "Yoshihide Suga set to become Japan's prime minister after winning LDP election". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on 14 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.