Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has a chance to stay in power through the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and become the country's longest-ruling leader after his party decided this week to allow its presidents to serve a third straight three-year term.

The rule change by Abe's Liberal Democratic Party could give Abe a better chance to achieve his controversial goal of revising the postwar pacifist Constitution, revered by some as a beacon of democracy but seen by conservatives as a humiliating symbol of Japan's defeat in World War II.

Abe took office for a rare second term as prime minister in December 2012, promising to reboot a stale economy and bolster defense. He is now serving a second consecutive term as LDP president, which ends in September 2018.