TOKYO -- A decisive win for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party in Sunday's lower house election gives him a secure foothold from which to seek another term as party leader next year -- and lengthens the odds for those looking to replace him.
With the LDP's majority in the Diet's lower house secure, Abe appears set to run for a third consecutive three-year term as party chief in September 2018. If he wins re-election to that post and serves through September 2021, Abe would become Japan's longest-serving prime minister, unless his party somehow loses power.
