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.
The new Prime Minister will next announce his cabinet line up, which is expected to include a large number of former Abe appointees, before being sworn in by Emperor Naruhito at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Wednesday afternoon.
The appointment of Suga as Abe’s replacement isn’t surprising. 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 as a successful political operator, who can get things done, and worked hand-in-hand with the former leader to implement “Abenomics” — a series of economic policies designed to boost Japan’s flagging economy.
In fact, Suga is so closely tied to the former Prime Minister that Kazuto Suzuki, a vice dean and professor of international politics at Hokkaido University, described him as an “Abe substitute.”
Troubles ahead
Japan is also facing major long-term economic and social issues, such as massive government debt and an aging population. Despite Abe’s public calls for reforms for gender equality in the workplace, critics say not enough progress was made during his time in government.
Suga will also face a referendum on his new government sooner than he may have liked. The Prime Minister must hold another general election by October 2021, although Defense Minister Taro Kono said Wednesday that snap elections could be called as early as next month.
CNN’s Emiko Jozuka, Joshua Berlinger and Will Ripley contributed to this article.
Source : Nbcnewyork
