Japan’s Suga Wins Ruling Party Race to Replace Premier Abe
- Parliament expected to elect Suga as prime minister Wednesday
- Election difficult before virus comes under control, Suga says
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Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga was elected leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party by an overwhelming majority, ushering in the country’s first change of prime minister in almost eight years.
The party, which has ruled mostly uninterrupted since 1955, was set to use its parliamentary majority to install Suga as prime minister in a separate vote Wednesday. Suga’s appointment will bring to an end the record run of his ailing boss, Shinzo Abe, who has served since 2012 and forged an identity on the global stage that the world’s third-largest economy had often lacked.