Shigeru Ishiba Elected As New Prime Minister Of Japan

TOKYO: Former defense minister Shigeru Ishiba is set to become Japan’s new prime minister after winning his party’s leadership contest on Friday, following a crowded race that ended in a runoff vote.

The 67-year-old takes control of the long-ruling, scandal-plagued Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and will assume command of the world’s fourth-largest economy once parliament convenes in October, due to his party’s majority in the lower house.

He was one of nine candidates and beat economic security minister Sanae Takaichi – who was vying to become Japan’s first woman leader – in the runoff, with 215 votes to 194.

A third frontrunner who didn’t make the final cut was Shinjiro Koizumi, the US-educated, charismatic son of popular former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi.

It was Ishiba’s fifth attempt to lead the party, a conservative political machine that has ruled Japan almost continuously since the party’s founding in 1955.

ALSO READ: Russia President Vladimir Putin issues ‘nuclear warning’ to the West

ALSO WATCH: