Moves by factional groups within the Liberal Democratic Party are afoot as they jockey for influence ahead of the party presidency race this fall, in which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to seek re-election as LDP chief for a third — and final — three-year term. But the September LDP election, which should provide an opportunity for the party to sum up its appraisal of the Abe administration's achievements and its policies, should not be determined by the same old factional interests and their game of numbers. Each of the LDP factions should prepare for the race by clarifying its own policies and its position toward the administration.
An internal feud that threatened to split the group led by former Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga — which reportedly subsided after Nukaga agreed last week to demands that he step down as the group's head — is said to have been staged by some of its members who were unhappy that he was doing nothing as leader to boost the faction's influence and that he indicated support for Abe's re-election too easily without trying to get anything in return. Meanwhile, the party's largest faction, headed by veteran lawmaker Hiroyuki Hosoda and from which Abe himself hails, has launched exchanges with members of a group led by LDP policy chief Fumio Kishida.
In his quest for a third term as LDP chief, Abe is believed to have the solid backing of the Hosoda faction plus two groups headed respectively by Finance Minister Taro Aso and LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai — which combined account for roughly half of the LDP's Diet members. To solidify his chances for re-election, Abe is reportedly counting on support from Kishida's faction, although Kishida himself has not made clear whether he will run in the party race in September.