AMN
Yoshihide Suga was formally elected today as Japan’s new Prime Minister in a Parliamentary vote. Mr Suga replaced former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who resigned earlier in the day because of ill health.
Mr Suga had been chosen as leader of the ruling party on Monday, virtually assuring his succession.
He was Chief Cabinet Secretary and long seen as Abe’s right-hand man. Mr Suga is to launch his own Cabinet later in the day today.
Mr Suga has stressed his background as a farmer’s son and a self-made politician in promising to serve the interests of ordinary people and rural communities.
He said, he will pursue Abe’s unfinished policies and that his top priorities will be fighting the Corona virus and turning around an economy battered by the pandemic.
Earlier Shinzo Abe and his Cabinet resigned, clearing the way for his successor to take over after parliamentary confirmation later today.
Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, announced last month that he was stepping down because of health problems.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, was chosen as the new head of the governing Liberal Democratic Party, virtually guaranteeing his election as prime minister in a parliamentary vote Wednesday because of the party’s majority.
Suga, has promised to serve the interests of ordinary people and rural communities.
He has said he will pursue Abe’s unfinished policies, and that his top priorities will be fighting the coronavirus and turning around an economy battered by the pandemic.
Suga said he will appoint “reform-minded, hard-working people” to the new Cabinet, to be launched later today.