The governing party in Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has elected Yoshihide Suga as its leader and most preferred candidate to succeed Shinzo Abe. 

Members of Parliament from both houses of parliament voted overwhelmingly for Suga, with a landslide victory of 534 votes, ahead of Fumio Kishida, a former foreign minister, with 89 votes and Shigeru Ishiba, a former defence minister, with 68. This has paved the way for him to become Japan’s next prime minister.

Former Chief Cabinet Secretary, Mr Suga, was regarded as a close ally and the face of the Abe administration. A final vote on his appointment is expected to take place this Wednesday. With no contender in sight, Suga’s premiership of Japan is a certainty. He promised to commit himself to country and form a cabinet that works for the people. “I will devote the whole of myself to Japan and the Japanese people.”

The Man Yoshihide Suga

Suga has a long political career that is deeply rooted in the LDP in Japan. He started out in the political space after he graduated from university and worked on a House of Councilor’s election campaign. After that, he went on to serve as the Secretary to an LDP member for eleven years. He ran for political office in 1987 when he was elected into the Yokohoma city council, his first elected position. He served in various ministerial capacities and was appointed Executive Acting Secretary-General of the LDP in 2012. He became Chief Cabinet Secretary to Shinzo Abe in the same year. 

Expectations for Japan 

When Suga assumes office, he will be expected to continue Abe’s reforms proposals, including revising Japan’s pacifist post-war constitution to legitimise the Self-Defence Forces, a priority-agenda of the outgoing prime minister. Eyes will be on him to move the country towards economic stability as well as restore the trust of the public in the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. 

Suga will keep his position until elections due in September 2021.