Tokyo, Oct. 4, (dpa/GNA) – Japan’s former foreign minister, Fumio Kishida, was elected on Monday as the new head of government of the world’s third-largest economy.
The lower house of parliament approved the 64-year-old conservative to succeed Yoshihide Suga as prime minister, backed by a majority of votes from the governing coalition parties.
Kishida, who was foreign minister for many years under former right-wing conservative prime minister Shinzo Abe, filled his cabinet with new faces as he replaced all except Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi.
He appointed Shunichi Suzuki as finance minister, handing the role to the second largest faction within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
Critics view his cabinet – which includes just three women – as a sign of continuity rather than a fresh departure, however. The stock market reacted with falling prices.
According to Japanese media reports, Kishida wants to bring forward parliamentary elections to as early as October 31, in an apparent attempt to capitalize on both the higher approval ratings often enjoyed by new governments and a recent improvement in the coronavirus situation.
Under his predecessor Suga, poll ratings for the conservative LDP fell during the government’s struggle to tackle the coronavirus crisis.
Since then, however, the infection figures have dropped sharply in view of higher vaccination rates, and a state of emergency was lifted a few days ago.
The LDP has ruled Japan almost uninterrupted for decades.
South Korean President Moon Jae In congratulated Kishida in a letter expressing hope that South Korea and Japan would “set an example for cooperation as neighbouring countries,” the presidential office announced.
Seoul said it was ready to cooperate with the new Japanese cabinet on issues including the economy, culture and people-to-people exchanges.
GNA