Political Risk Week Ahead September 14-20

by Tom Lake

All timings subject to change.

Monday 14 September:

• Japan: Governing Liberal Democratic Party holds its leadership election to decide who succeeds the retiring Shinzo Abe as party president, and therefore Japanese prime minister. To speed up the contest only LDP Diet members and the heads of the local LDP association in each of Japan's 47 prefectures will be allowed to vote. Chief Cabinet Secretary and close ally of PM Abe, Yoshihide Suga, remains the favourite to win. He faces former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba and former foreign minister Fumio Kishida in the contest.
• United Kingdom: Second reading of the controversial UK Internal Market Bill in the House of Commons. The Bill contains provisions that would allow UK ministers to override sections of the Northern Ireland protocol contained within the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, which the UK government acknowledges would be in breach of international law. The publication of the Bill has caused a major deterioration in relations with the EU, threatening to derail ongoing FTA talks between the two sides. On September 14, 15 and 16 the Bill will be debated in the Commons.
• European Union-China: President of the European Council Charles Michel, President of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and chair of the Council presidency German Chancellor Angela Merkel to hold a virtual meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The videoconference acts as a follow-up to the 22^nd EU-China summit that occurred virtually on June 22. Stated topics of discussion include COVID-19, EU-China trade, and climate change. Press conference from EU side around 1600CET (1500BST, 1000ET).

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