Tokyo: Yoshihide Suga will be the newly elected Prime Minister of Japan following a vote in the country’s Parliament on Wednesday. Yoshihide Suga , a former cardboard factory worker and farmer’s son is now the leader of the world’s third largest economy.
The 71-year-old head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) replaces former PM Shinzo Abe. Suga was elected LDP leader on Monday with about 70% of the votes, but he still required the backing of the country’s national legislature, the Diet, before he could officially become Prime Minister.
He won the Diet vote with 314 out of 465 votes in the lower house and 142 out of 240 votes in the upper chamber.
Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving Prime Minister resigned in August due to health problems related to colitis — a non-curable inflammatory bowel disease that he was able to manage for most of his tenure.
The appointment of Suga as Abe’s replacement isn’t surprising as Suga was the former Japanese leader’s right-hand man during Abe’s almost eight years in office throughout his second term, holding the important position of chief cabinet secretary in his government — a combination of chief of staff and press secretary.
Suga is known for his wits and political operation. He knows the art of how to get work done. Suga has worked with Abe hand-in-hand to implement “Abenomics” – a series of economic policies designed to boost Japan’s flagging economy.
Suga is also described as “Abe substitute” by the Kazuto Suzuki, a vice dean and professor of international politics at Hokkaido University
After Abe exit, Suga is left with the economic downfall of Japan. Japan reported its worst GDP fall on record amid the global pandemic, with the economy shrinking 7.8% in the second quarter of 2020.
Tokyo is still scheduled to hold the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics in 2021, although questions remain around whether or not the global pandemic will have been brought under control in time.