The leader of the Japanese ruling party, Yoshihide Suga, was elected prime minister in a parliamentary vote on Wednesday, becoming the country’s first new prime minister in nearly eight years.
Suga’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party used its majority in the powerful lower house of parliament, which is empowered to elect the prime minister, to elect him to lead the world’s third-largest economy as it tries to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. After the vote, Suga must enter the Prime Minister’s Office as the new leader and appoint his cabinet later that day.
Suga’s appointment, two days after being selected as the leader of the PLD, brings down the curtain on outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s record streak of nearly eight consecutive years in the country’s highest position. Suga, 71, who previously served as Abe’s right-hand man, has vowed to uphold the flexible fiscal stance and ultra-easy monetary policy of his former boss known as “Abenomics.”
Any sign of an exit from Abenomics could cause the yen to rise and stocks to fall, prompting a reassessment of the outlook for the nation. The Topix Index briefly fell when Abe announced his intention to resign on August 28, but has quickly stabilized since then, and market players saw Suga embracing continuity.
In contrast to Abe’s rarefied political pedigree, Suga hails from a rural area in northern Japan and took a job in a cardboard box factory when he first moved to Tokyo. He made his way through college, before beginning his political career as a secretary to a politician. He was first elected to parliament in 1996.
Suga’s home in Akita prefecture, where his family grew strawberries, is one of the areas hardest hit by the economic malaise stemming from Japan’s declining and aging population.
While Suga has vowed to elect reformers to his cabinet, Kyodo News and other media reports say that he has already decided to retain key players, Finance Minister Taro Aso and Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi. The PLD general secretary Toshihiro Nikai, a veteran political agent, will also remain in office under the new administration, the party announced Tuesday.
The role of chief cabinet secretary, which Suga held for a record period, will go to Katsunobu Kato, a former finance ministry bureaucrat who recently served as health minister, according to public broadcaster NHK.
Abe’s younger brother Nobuo Kishi will become defense minister, NHK reported, while current defense minister Taro Kono will take over as minister of administrative reform.
Speculation about an early general election has simmered after a surge in support for the cabinet. Suga has repeatedly said that it would be difficult to vote while the coronavirus outbreak is still spreading. The power to dissolve parliament for general elections rests with the prime minister, and it does not need to be held for another year.
Suga has been outspoken on some specific issues, including the need for more competition among mobile phone providers to cut costs for households. She has said that Japan has too many regional financial institutions and is a strong advocate of introducing casino complexes to boost tourism.
While Suga has little direct experience in diplomacy, he has said that Japan’s alliance with the United States will remain the cornerstone of his foreign policy and that he wants to maintain stable ties with China, his country’s largest trading partner.
Local media, including national public broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News, have compiled lists of the likely lineup to be announced in the afternoon. Here are who say they will be in the cabinet:
(Updates with the lower house vote on Suga).
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