Japan’s governing party has elected Yoshihide Suga as its new leader to succeed Shinzo Abe, meaning he is almost certain to become the country’s next prime minister.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, a loyal aide to outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, won a landslide victory in a ruling party leadership election, paving the way for Japan’s first change of leader in nearly eight years.
Mr Suga won the vote for the presidency of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) by a large margin, taking 377 of a total of 534 votes from lawmakers and regional representatives.
He saw off two other contenders – Fumio Kishida, a former foreign minister, and Shigeru Ishiba, a former LDP secretary-general and one time defence minister.
He had emerged as frontrunner in the race after Abe, Japan’s longest-serving premier, said last month he would resign because of ill health, ending nearly eight years in office.
Suga, 71, who has promised to continue Abe’s key policies, said his big win would give him the backing to pursue his reform goals including deregulation and breaking down bureaucratic silos. He added that containing the coronavirus and reviving the economy were conditions for calling a snap general election.
“As I got big support in numbers today, the environment in which I can pursue my policy agenda in a stable manner has been secured.
“What’s important now is to contain the pandemic while also reviving the economy. I don’t think we can immediately dissolve the lower house just because the pandemic is contained. That’s a decision that must be made looking comprehensively at various factors,” Suga told a news conference.
Suga has said he would continue Abe’s signature “Abenomics” strategy of hyper-easy monetary policy, government spending and reforms while managing the problems of COVID-19 and a slumping economy, and confronting longer-term issues such as Japan’s ageing population and low birth rate.
The LDP’s new president also said he would raise the minimum wage, promote agricultural reforms, boost tourism and source COVID-19 vaccines for Japan by the first half of 2021.
The son of a strawberry farmer from northern Japan who got his start in politics as a local assemblyman, Suga has since 2012 held the key post of chief cabinet secretary, acting as Abe’s top government spokesman, coordinating policies and keeping bureaucrats in line.
“I was born as the oldest son of a farmer in Akita. Without any knowledge or blood ties, I launched into the world of politics, starting from zero and I have been able to become leader of the LDP, with all its traditions and history,” said Suga, whose modest roots differ from many LDP lawmakers.
“I will devote all of myself to work for Japan and its citizens,” he said in brief remarks after the party vote.
Suga, whose resume is light on diplomatic experience, faces geopolitical challenges such as building ties with the winner of the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election and balancing concern over China’s maritime aggressiveness with bilateral economic interdependence.
