Japan's parliament elected Fumio Kishida, a former foreign minister, as the country's 100th prime minister on Monday, soon after his predecessor, Yoshihide Suga, resigned along with his Cabinet. Kishida will be formally sworn in later Monday, and he is expected to retain two Cabinet ministers, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, and replace the other 18. Most of the new Cabinet ministers will reportedly be from factions that supported Kishida when he won the leadership race for Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party last week.
Kishida's first priorities will be to bring the COVID-19 pandemic under control and boost the LDP's population before parliamentary elections in mid-November. A 64-year-old third-generation politician, Kishida "used to be known as a dovish moderate but turned hawkish apparently to win over influential conservatives in the party," The Associated Press reports. "He is firmly entrenched in the conservative establishment and his victory in the party election was a choice for continuity and stability over change."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Top Russian general killed in Moscow blastSpeed Read A remote-triggered bomb killed Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defense
-
Why Assad fell so fastThe Explainer The newly liberated Syria is in an incredibly precarious position, but it's too soon to succumb to defeatist gloom
-
NATO chief urges Europe to arm against RussiaSpeed Read Mark Rutte said Putin wants to 'wipe Ukraine off the map' and might come for other parts of Europe next
-
New Syria government takes charge, urging 'stability'Speed Read The rebel forces that ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad announced an interim government
-
Romania's election rerunThe Explainer Shock result of presidential election has been annulled following allegations of Russian interference
-
Russia's shadow war in EuropeTalking Point Steering clear of open conflict, Moscow is slowly ratcheting up the pressure on Nato rivals to see what it can get away with.
-
South Korea roiled by short-lived martial lawSpeed Read President Yoon Suk Yeol's imposition of martial law was a 'clear violation of the constitution,' said the opposition parties who have moved to impeach him
-
Syrian rebels seize Aleppo in surprise offensiveSpeed Read The rebels made gains against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and reignited Syria's 13-year-old civil war
