Abe seeks to avoid repeat of his swift demise a decade ago

Bloomberg

Unpopular policies and a slew of scandals triggered a slide in public support for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that led to a heavy election defeat.
That was in 2007, when he abruptly resigned after losing the upper house of parliament, citing health issues. Ten years on, his situation looks uncomfortably familiar.
Abe returned to Tokyo on Tuesday from a curtailed European trip to face lost public trust and record low voter support. Ministerial gaffes and his failure to allay suspicions over a cronyism scandal involving a close friend contributed to his ruling party suffering an historic defeat in a recent Tokyo election. The public is wary of his plan to rush through a revision to the pacifist constitution.
But this time around he’s likely to hold onto his job. No opposition party has support in double figures and no senior member of his own ruling Liberal Democratic Party has emerged to challenge him. Abe could stay in place until a party leadership election expected in autumn next year, just months before a general election has to be held.
“What’s different from 10 years ago is that the Democratic Party is very weak,” said Lully Miura, a lecturer at the Policy Alternatives Research Institute at Tokyo University, referring to the main national opposition party. “And there’s no one in the LDP who can attract more support than Abe as party leader or prime minister at this point.”
Support for Abe’s cabinet fell 13% points to 35% in a poll on Monday, the lowest since he retook office in late 2012. In a separate survey by the Asahi newspaper, 61% of respondents said they didn’t trust Abe, with most saying they were not convinced by his explanation of how one of his oldest friends was selected to open a new veterinary college with government support.