A May 25 article in Reuters describes how a “string of controversial missteps [that has] slashed public approval ratings for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe [could] could threaten to end his term early, even as he lifted a state of emergency after the rate of coronavirus infections declined.”
Abe’s response to the pandemic, which critics have called clumsy and tone deaf, had already reduced Abe’s support, and he now faces the furor over his attempt to keep Tokyo’s top prosecutor in his job after retirement age and to enact a bill extending prosecutors’ retirement age.
“Perhaps Abe will be able to stop the decline if the coronavirus situation doesn’t worsen and as the Kurokawa scandal fades,” Curtis said. “But I can’t see him regaining much ground. He is a lame duck at best and if the numbers go down any further a dead one.”
To read the full article, click here.
