Japan has a new prime minister: Yoshihide Suga - a shadow man for the 'ordinary people'

(Patria) – Yoshihide Suga has been elected as the new Prime Minister of Japan after the lower house of parliament adopted the proposal for his appointment.

Suga (71) will succeed Shinzo Abe, to whom he was a right-hand man, and plans to continue his economic policies to pull Japan out of a deep recession and curb the coronavirus epidemic in the country.

Abe, whose support was crucial for the appointment of Yoshihide Suga as the new prime minister, is voluntarily retiring due to deteriorating health after nearly 8 years in office.

– I have dedicated both body and soul to economic recovery and diplomacy with the aim of protecting the country's national interests, Abe told reporters, not hiding his pride in what he is leaving behind.  

Abe (65) also said that thanks to the treatment for ulcerative colitis, his condition is improving, and that he will support his successor as a legislator.

Suga, the son of a strawberry farmer from the northern province of Akita, recalled his origins as an argument for his promise to serve the interests of ordinary people and rural communities.

When asked what he would like to achieve as prime minister, Suga mentioned conducting diplomacy and economic policy in the way his former boss Shinzo Abe did.

He also announced that he would appoint individuals who are 'capable and reform-oriented' to his cabinet. It is expected that half of Abe's cabinet will remain or be distributed to various positions in ministries.  

The new Prime Minister of Japan faces a number of challenges, such as relations with China, which continues its actions in the disputed South China Sea, as well as the decision on holding the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which were postponed to the summer of 2021 due to the coronavirus.