Japan's PM Abe unchallenged for party top post, gets another 3-year term

Visitors look at the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) bourse in Tokyo, on July 1, 2015. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won a rare second consecutive term on Tuesday, after his only potential rival for the post of ruling party chief failed to gain enough sponsors to register for the race. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

SEP 8, 20157:50 AM

[TOKYO] Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won a rare second consecutive term on Tuesday, after his only potential rival for the post of ruling party chief failed to gain enough sponsors to register for the race.

Mr Abe, who took office in December 2012, was the only candidate to register for a ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership election, meaning he gets another three-year term as party chief and hence, premier, becoming the first Japanese leader to do so in more than a decade.

Mr Abe's policy team has pledged to refocus on the faltering economy after spending political capital this past year pushing unpopular legislation, expected to pass this month, that could let Japanese troops fight overseas for the first time since World War Two.

REUTERS