Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has entered the sixth year of his administration since his return to the helm of government at the end of 2012. A major focus of attention of Japanese politics in 2018 will be on whether Abe will be re-elected for a third term as president of the Liberal Democratic Party this fall. If he is — as it now appears likely — he can remain in office through 2021, making him the longest-serving prime minister in the nation's parliamentary history. The next question is what agenda he will pursue once his grip on power is extended.
Abe's gamble to dissolve the Lower House for a snap general election in October paid off. Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, whose nascent party scored an upset win against the LDP in the metropolitan assembly election in July, staged a challenge against the ruling alliance in the general election by launching a new national party. However, that attempt failed miserably, leaving behind an even more fragmented opposition camp, and the LDP-Komeito ruling coalition maintained its two-thirds majority in the Lower House.
Popular approval ratings of Abe's Cabinet, which tumbled to a low point in early summer following a spate of scandals that hit the government and LDP lawmakers, have rebounded to levels that are solid enough for an administration now in its sixth year.