Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga recently announced he was stepping down as president of his political party. The move also effectively meant he would be stepping down as the prime minister.
The Liberal Democratic Party, which should be noted as actually Japan's main conservative party, has elected a new leader. In all likelihood making him the next prime minister of Japan.
Fumio Kishida becomes the new president of the Liberal Democratic Party
The apparent next Japanese prime minister is Fumio Kishida. He's also likely to have to begin campaigning to keep his new job quickly.
Japan's next scheduled general election is less than two months away. The Liberal Democrats currently have a commanding hold on Japan's House of Representatives. They also control the House of Councillors, Japan's parliament's other half of the National Diet.
Polling has indicated that the Liberal Democrats are likely to remain the dominant force in the House of Representatives. Of course, there's already no guarantee of the accuracy of those polls. And the party may also be hampered by Suga's struggles. Though probably not as much with his exit as the party president.
Suga became prime minister and LDP president last year. He followed Shinzo Abe, who left both positions for a second time because of health reasons.
A number of factors meant Suga was probably facing an even more daunting task than usual. One of them was having to follow an iconic figure in Abe. Others include the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic fallout. Suga would struggle in trying to manage the pandemic, and his approval ratings began taking hits.
Fumio Kishida was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1993.
He'd previously worked for the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan. He represents a Hiroshima-based district.
Kishida would go on to serve in a number of Cabinet roles under Prime Ministers Abe and Yasuo Fukuda. Including minister of foreign affairs and minister of defense. Kishida's potential Cabinet has reportedly begun to take shape.
According to Nikkei Asia, he's set to appoint Shunichi Suzuki as finance minister. Suzuki has previously been in the Cabinets of Abe and Junichiro Koizumi. He's also a son of former Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki and brother-in-law of former Prime Minister Taro Aso.
Kishida was born into two political families
Fumio Kishida spent part of his childhood residing in the United States. He would eventually graduate from Waseda University in Tokyo. There, he became friends with Takeshi Iwaya, who also would be the defense minister under Shinzo Abe. His father, Fumitake, and paternal grandfather, Masaki, were members of the House of Representatives.
Kishida is also connected to the Miyazawa family. Members of which include former Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa.
In Abe's Cabinet, Kishida served with his cousin, Yoichi Miyazawa. Yoichi was minister of economy, trade, and industry. His father, Hiroshi, was a justice minister under Social Democratic Party Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama and governor of Hiroshima.
