By Deutsche Welle (Asia) | Created at 2024-10-01 04:13:17 | Updated at 2024-10-01 07:21:53
3 hours ago
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will officially step down Tuesday with Shigeru Ishiba set to take his place.
The Japanese parliament is expected to appoint Ishiba to office by Tuesday afternoon as the country's 65th prime minister. His success is almost guaranteed after having won the leadership contest for his party which maintains a comfortable majority in parliament.
After the result of the vote around 1:40 pm (0440 GMT), the Emperor of Japan will formally appoint Ishiba and his cabinet in a ceremony at the Imperial Palace.
Former Defense Minister Ishiba set to become Japan's new PM
Snap elections on October 27
Ishiba won a tough race to become the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) last week after several previous failed attempts.
The outgoing Prime Minister Kishida announced in August that he would not stand for reelection as the head of the party, suffering from low popularity in Japan.
On Monday, Ishiba announced plans to call for a snap election on October 27, a year before the scheduled date.
"I believe it is important to have the new administration get the public's judgment as soon as possible," he said.
The LDP's popularity has been falling, but the party has managed to stay in power partly due to a weak opposition.
Local media said former chief cabinet secretary Katsunobu Kato will likely be named the finance minister, and Gen Nakatani and Takeshi Iwaya will be named as defense and foreign ministers respectively.
As the new leader of Japan, Ishiba, 67, already has a lot on his plate such as restoring his party's popularity, a slowing economy and tackling fears of Chinese aggression.
He supports the creation of a regional military alliance along the lines of NATO.
tg/ab (AFP, AP, Reuters)
