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Shinzo Abe Bows Out as Japan's Prime Minister
Posted
September 16, 2020
Views
7,181
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112
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September 16, 2020
7,181
112
20
1.84%
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0:46Now PlayingShinzo Abe bowed out as Japan's prime minister on Wednesday with flowers and applause.
Abe announced his resignation in August due to health reasons, ending his tenure as the longest-serving PM.
Japan’s parliament formally elected ruling party stalwart Yoshihide Suga -- the 71-year-old son of a strawberry farmer -- to be the country’s first new prime minister in almost eight years.
In his inaugural news conference as premier, he pledged to follow the policies of his former boss, Shinzo Abe, and give top priority to controlling the coronavirus, which helped cause the country’s worst contraction on record in the second quarter of this year.
“Reviving the economy remains the top priority of the administration,” Suga told reporters after a ceremony at the Imperial Palace where the emperor endorsed the new premier and his cabinet. “While continuing with ‘Abenomics’, I want to press ahead with more reforms.”
The Liberal Democratic Party’s majority in the powerful lower house secured Suga a landslide victory in Wednesday’s vote, enabling him to take over from Abe, who stepped down for health reasons. A taciturn northerner known for his work ethic and pragmatism, Suga took the helm with promises of keeping strong Japan’s sole military alliance with the U.S.
Suga has pledged continuity and named a cabinet that relies on LDP political veterans and retains several major players from Abe’s line-up. Finance Minister Taro Aso, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi -- the 39-year-old son of a former premier -- were among those staying on.
The parliament vote capped a flurry of back-room deal making after Abe’s surprise Aug. 28 announcement that he was ending his record-long tenure as prime minister due to health concerns. Suga -- Abe’s chief cabinet secretary and top spokesman -- quickly locked up support from faction bosses to sideline would-be challengers and secure leadership of the LDP in a party vote Monday.
While Suga’s appointment officially brings the Abe era to an end, the former prime minister’s political influence is expected to linger. Suga has pledged to keep in place his former boss’s flexible fiscal stance and ultra-easy monetary policy, known as “Abenomics.”
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