Shinzo Abe, who was re-elected Wednesday as prime minister following yet another landslide victory by the ruling coalition in the Oct. 22 general election, is on a more solid political footing than when he took on the election gamble in late September. On the back of his fifth-straight triumph in national elections, Abe winning a third term as chief of his Liberal Democratic Party next year now looks all but certain, possibly keeping him as prime minister through 2021. The next question is how he will use his new mandate and his likely extended lease on power.
In calling the snap election, Abe said he was asking voters for a new mandate for his administration to cope with the security threat posed by North Korea's ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons programs and the demographic challenges of the nation's aging and declining population — both of which he called national crises.
The prime minister has maintained a tough position toward North Korea, calling for a tightening of the screws to force Pyongyang to give up its nuclear and missile development and ruling out dialogue with the Kim Jong Un regime. He has thrown Tokyo's full support behind the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump, which maintains that all options — including military — are on the table in dealing with North Korea. Abe is expected to try to cement tight cooperation between Japan and the United States on the issue when Trump visits Tokyo next week as part of the first Asian tour of his presidency.