Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe became head of the largest faction within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday as he returned to the intraparty bloc following a nine-year absence.
Abe was officially named successor to Hiroyuki Hosoda, a former chief Cabinet secretary, by faction members during a meeting Thursday, a day after Hosoda was elected speaker of the House of Representatives.
In 2012, Abe left the faction, then led by late former Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura, before his second stint as prime minister. He had not joined an intraparty bloc even after stepping down from his leadership post in September last year.