Japan’s Suga wins LDP race to succeed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

Name: Yoshihide Suga set to become Japan’s next prime minister after winning ruling party leadership
Uploaded: 2020-09-14T06:39:24.000Z
Duration: 4 min 20 s
Description: Yoshihide Suga set to become Japan’s next prime minister after winning ruling party leadership

I will devote all of myself to work for Japan and its citizens, Suga said after winning 377 votes

The long-time ally of Abe has said he will pursue his predecessor’s ‘Abenomics’ and follow a diplomatic line centered on the US-Japan alliance

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Yoshihide Suga was elected as new head of Japan’s ruling party at the LDP’s leadership election on Monday. Photo: AP

Agence France-Presse

Published: 2:39pm, 14 Sep 2020Updated: 10:40pm, 5 Oct 2020

Japan’s Yoshihide Suga, a long-time ally of outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, won a ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership election on Monday, paving the way for him to become prime minister in a parliamentary vote on Wednesday.

The 71-year-old easily won the ballot, taking 377 of a total of 534 valid votes from LDP lawmakers and regional representatives. Rival Shigeru Ishiba, a former defence minister, won 68 votes and ex-foreign minister Fumio Kishida got 89.

Suga’s appointment will bring to an end the record run of his ailing boss, Abe, who has served since 2012 and forged an identity on the global stage that the world’s third-largest economy had often lacked.

Abe made the shock announcement he would step down with a year left in his mandate in late August, saying a recurrence of the ulcerative colitis he has long battled made it impossible for him to stay on.

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Yoshihide Suga set to become Japan’s next prime minister after winning ruling party leadership

“I was born as the oldest son of a farmer in Akita,” Suga said after the vote. “Without any knowledge or blood ties, I launched into the world of politics, starting from zero - and have been able to become leader of the LDP, with all its traditions and history.”

“I will devote all of myself to work for Japan and its citizens,” he added.