Shigeru Ishibu becomes new Prime Minister of Japan
Shigeru Ishiba officially became the new prime minister of Japan after a vote in the Diet on October 1, 2024. He succeeds Fumio Kishida, who has held the post since 2021, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
Ishiba, a former defense minister, won the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership race last week, securing the prime minister's job with a majority in the Diet.
Ishiba and key ministers will deliver policy speeches in the Diet on October 4, and the lower house will be dissolved on October 9 for a snap election on October 27. Campaigning in the election will start on October 15.
Following the mass resignation of Kishida's Cabinet, Ishiba is set to form his own Cabinet. In the new cabinet, former Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya will be foreign minister. Gen Nakatani, who served as defense minister from 2014 to 2016, is expected to become defense minister again. The former health minister Katsunobu Kato, is set to become finance minister. Yoshimasa Hayashi, who was one of nine candidates for LDP president, will remain chief Cabinet secretary.
Ishiba gave two former prime ministers, Taro Aso and Yoshihide Suga, the posts of supreme adviser and vice president, respectively. The new government will be confirmed by Emperor Naruhito later in the afternoon.
Ishiba plans to push for a NATO-like Asian collective security system amid rising tensions over Taiwan and China, and he aims to renegotiate the Japan-US agreement to achieve a more equal footing in the bilateral alliance.
