Noda Vows to Support Abe in LDP Leadership Poll after Giving Up Own Bid

September 4, 2018

Tokyo- Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Seiko Noda told Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday that she will support Abe's bid for reelection in the upcoming leadership poll of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, according to Noda's aides.

The move came after Noda announced on Friday that she dropped her plan to run in the Sept. 20 party election as she failed to secure endorsement from minimum-required 20 lawmakers in the party.

Noda then said she would pick the candidate to support--either Abe or former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba--in the leadership race after consulting with her supporters.

Noda, seen as closer to Ishiba, has made critical remarks on ways Abe manages the government even since joining his cabinet in August 2017.

However, Yasukazu Hamada, who was also defense chief, and others that backed her leadership bid persuaded Noda into throwing her support behind Abe so Noda backers can win Abe's favorable treatment when he reshuffles cabinet ministers and party executives after the election, in which Abe is widely expected to prevail, the aides said. Jiji Press