Shigeru Ishiba appointed new prime minister of Japan – Observer

The lower house of Japan’s parliament this Tuesday appointed Shigeru Ishiba, the new leader of the country’s ruling party, as Japanese prime minister, hours after the resignation of his predecessor, Fumio Kishida.

Ishiba, 67, was elected with 291 votes in favor in the Japanese parliament, the Diet, dominated by the government coalition led by the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LPD).

Fumio Kishida, who announced in August that he would not run for a new three-year term, had resigned hours earlierpaving the way for Shigeru Ishiba to take over the position.

The Chief Secretary of the Government, Yoshimasa Hayashi, announced that Fumio Kishida and his ministers resigned at an executive meeting held this Tuesday morning.

Shigeru Ishiba, former defense minister, was elected leader of the LPD on Friday, beating eight other candidates in the primaries of the party that has governed Japan almost continuously for decades.

Fumio Kishida took office in 2021, but announced his departure in August so that the party could have a new leader after the Government was plagued by several corruption scandals.

Shigeru Ishiba said on Monday that he intends to call early legislative elections on October 27.

“I think it is important that the new government is judged by the people as quickly as possible and, if the conditions are met, I hope to call elections [legislativas] brought forward to October 27th”, declared the future head of government, during a press conference.

“I am aware that it is quite unusual for someone to [ainda] It’s not a prime minister to make these types of statements… but I don’t think it’s inappropriate,” he added.

During his campaign for leader of the LDP, Ishiba, 67, promised to stimulate the economy by encouraging national investment in the semiconductor and artificial intelligence technology sectors.