Oshihide Suga has been elected Japan’s new Prime Minister, following a vote in the country’s Parliament on Wednesday.
The vote confirmed the former cardboard factory worker and farmer’s son as leader of the world’s third largest economy.
The 71-year-old head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) replaces outgoing leader Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving Prime Minister, who announced his intention to resign in August due to health problems related to colitis – a non-curable inflammatory bowel disease that he was able to manage for most of his tenure.
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.
READ ALSO: Kano gets Japan, EU grants to cushion virus impact
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.
Shortly after his confirmation, the new Prime Minister announced his cabinet lineup, which included a large number of former Abe appointees, likely to promote the impression of stability and continuity between the two leaders.
