Lagatar24 Desk
Tokyo, Sept.29: Japan is going to get a new Prime minister. Japan’s ruling party on Wednesday voted for its new leader, Fumio Kishida. He won 257 votes in a runoff to defeat Taro Kono, a popular vaccines minister who previously held the positions of Defence and Foreign minister. The elected leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Japan is almost certain to become the Prime Minister.
“The LDP leadership election is over. Let us all face the lower house and the upper house elections as one,” Kishida said. The lower house election is going to be held next month.
Kishida (64) previously served as LDP Policy Chief and was Foreign Minister between 2012-17 during which he negotiated accords with Russia and South Korea, with whom Japan’s relations are often frosty.
Notably, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said that he would step down as leader of the LDP after only one year, becoming the party’s new leader on September 29. The new party chief was expected to become the next prime minister in advance, as the LDP has a majority in the powerful lower house of parliament. However, the four candidates caused political uncertainty in Japan.
Kishida’s victory is unlikely to trigger a huge shift in policies as Japan seeks to cope with an assertive China and revive an economy hit by the pandemic, with the soft-spoken MP highlighting the need to focus on reducing income disparity.
