Jiji Press

Japan’s Former PM Yoshihide Suga Not to Run in Upcoming Election

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga holds up the new era name “Reiwa” on April 1, 2019.

Jiji Press

18:19 JST, January 16, 2026

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga plans not to run in the upcoming election for the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the country’s parliament, informed sources said Friday.

The 77-year-old ruling Liberal Democratic Party member elected from the Kanagawa No. 2 constituency is believed to have decided against seeking re-election in light of his physical condition.

Suga is expected to explain his decision to supporters as early as Saturday, and the LDP’s Kanagawa prefectural chapter will select a successor candidate.

First elected to the Lower House in 1996, Suga served as chief cabinet secretary under then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and was prime minister from September 2020 to October 2021.