Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe elected ruling Liberal Democratic Party chief unopposed Tuesday Sep 08,2015

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has won a new term as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party after facing no opposition for the job.

The party named Shinzo Abe president after no other lawmakers filed applications to run against him in an election that had been set for September 20. Candidates had to gain support from 20 other lawmakers in the party to run.

Shinzo Abe’s current, three-year term as LDP president ends on September 30. His new term will run until September 30, 2018.

Shinzo Abe is on course to become Japan’s longest-serving prime minister in more than four decades after standing unopposed in his ruling party’s leadership election.
 

Shinzo Abe’s re-selection Tuesday as president of the Liberal Democratic Party comes as protests flare over unpopular legislation to expand the role of the Japanese military. Abe isn’t required to hold a general election for another three years. 

 

If he stays in office until 2018, he would become the third-longest serving prime minister since WWII

 

The longest-serving was his great-uncle Eisaku Sato, who stayed in office for a total of more than seven years until 1972. Shigeru Yoshida is close behind, also serving just over seven years in the 1940s and 1950s.