COMMENT | Five prime ministers in five years? It’s possible

COMMENT | Less than a year after becoming prime minister of Japan, Yoshihide Suga has announced on Friday that he would be stepping down from the top post on Sept 29.

It doesn’t need too many reasons, valid or not, nor a lengthy period for a Japanese prime minister to make up his mind to quit.

That is normal in Japanese politics. When a Japanese leader knows that his time is up, he will go willingly without much fanfare. In Malaysia, we even need a king to apply pressure before our prime minister would let go.

In Japan’s modern history, Suga’s predecessor, Shinzo Abe was the longest-serving prime minister of more than eight years. Tsutomu Hata, prime minister for 64 days from April 28, 1994, to June 30, 1994, was the shortest-serving PM.

In Malaysia, our eighth prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, is now the shortest-serving premier of 17 months when he stepped down on Aug 16.

But who is certain that current Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob will serve longer than 17 months?...