2,887 days: Abe becomes Japan’s longest-serving premier

Tokyo, November 20

Shinzo Abe entered the history books as Japan’s longest-serving premier on Wednesday, but many of his ambitious goals, including a constitutional revision to strengthen the military, appear far from reach.

Wednesday marks Abe’s 2,887th day in office, topping the record previously set by Taro Katsura, a revered politician who served three times between 1901 and 1913.

The 65-year-old is also the second-longest-serving leader of the Group of Seven major economies behind only German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has been in office since 2005.

Abe’s grip on power remains firm as he passes the landmark, with his tenure likely to last until at least September 2021 and no clear successor yet on the horizon.

But the premier has plenty of unfinished business, saying earlier this year after a cabinet reshuffle that he hoped to “take on the challenge to create a new country”.

He has reiterated his long-cherished ambition of revising Japan’s post-war constitution to change the status of the country’s Self Defence Forces.

But opposition parties have refused to move forward with procedures for the revision, and Abe has seen his reputation tarnished by the resignation of two cabinet ministers and a cronyism scandal. AFP