Assassination of former Japanese prime minister creates a political void the incumbent could fill
Bidding farewell to Shinzo Abe at a temple in Tokyo, prime minister Fumio Kishida vowed to take on the mission of a leader who raised Japan’s international standing and shaped its policy for the past decade. But the assassination of the country’s longest-serving prime minister has left a profound void in the governing Liberal Democratic party — and created an extraordinary opportunity for Kishida to stamp his own mark on Japanese politics. Abe’s death leaves leaderless his 94-member LDP faction, the largest in the party, while Kishida’s political base has been strengthened by a landslide victory in Sunday’s elections to the upper house of parliament.
