Fumio Kishida won the post as the new leader in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), bringing him one step closer to becoming Japan’s new prime minister replacing Yoshihide Suga.
Kishida, who once held the post of Japanese Foreign Minister, obtained 275 votes in the election held today, defeating vaccination minister Taro Kono.
The Japanese parliament is likely to elect Kishida as the new prime minister on October 4. Kishida will also lead his party in the Japanese general election which is expected to take place on November 28.
Kishida’s victory is seen as unlikely to lead to a major policy shift as Japan seeks to revive an economy affected by the pandemic, stressing the need to focus on reducing the income gap.
In his victory speech, Kishida told that they need to put together a stimulus package worth tens of trillions of yen by the end of the year.
He added that he decided to run because he felt democracy in Japan was in danger. Kishida also wants to lead the country to continue fighting the coronavirus pandemic and show that the LDP party is capable of hearing the voice of the people.
