Strawberry Farmer’s Son Becomes Japan’s New Prime Minister – NRK Urix – Foreign News & Documentaries

Suga, 71, won the vote for the leadership position in the Liberal Democratic Party by a wide margin. She received a total of 377 out of 534 votes. And so she crushed her two rivals, former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

Last month, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister announced his resignation due to health problems.

– My poor health should not lead to political mistakes. When he can no longer live up to the expectations of the Japanese people, he should no longer be Prime Minister. I have therefore decided to resign, said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Suga is currently the Chief Cabinet Secretary and has been considered the right-hand man of outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. It is very likely that it will continue the policy of its predecessor.

– I will continue Prime Minister Abe’s political priorities and carry them forward, the 71-year-old promised when he declared himself a candidate for the leadership position in the Conservative Party.

Now that the party has elected its new leader, there will be a new vote in parliament on Wednesday. Given that the Liberal Democrats and coalition partner Komeito have a majority in the National Assembly, the new party leader will almost certainly be elected the new prime minister.

Unusual background

Japanese politics is largely dominated by powerful families. Abe is the grandson of a former prime minister, but Yoshihide Suga stands out as the son of a strawberry farmer in the north of the country.

“Shinzo Abe and the other party leaders chose and support Suga because he is the candidate who can best ensure the continuity of Abe’s government without Abe,” Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University in Tokyo, told the BBC.

Yoshihide Suga is not considered the most energetic or passionate politician, but he has a reputation for being efficient and practical.

– That an ordinary person like me can try to become prime minister, is not exactly the Japanese democracy, he said when he launched his candidacy.

Suga promised to work hard to combat the coronavirus, as the government tries to speed up the economy again.

“All over the world, we must prevent the explosive spread of coronary disease that we have seen in the United States and Europe,” he emphasized.

Uncertain future

Although Yoshihide Suga was the preferred candidate to lead the party further now, it is not known whether he will be allowed to lead the party after the September 2021 elections.

Commentators the BBC has spoken to suggest that it may then be desirable to put a more dynamic man at the helm who can reach more voters.