Yoshihide Suga set to become Japanese PM after ruling party vote

He will succeed Shinzo Abe after becoming leader of the Liberal Democratic Party.

Yoshihide Suga has been elected as the new head of Japan’s ruling party, virtually guaranteeing him a parliamentary election to become the country’s next prime minister.

Mr Suga received 377 votes in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party election to pick a successor to prime minister Shinzo Abe, who announced last month that he would resign due to health problems.

The other two contenders received a combined 157 votes.

The expected victory in the party vote by Mr Suga, currently the chief cabinet secretary of Mr Abe’s government, all but guarantees his election in a parliamentary vote on Wednesday because of the majority held by the Liberal Democrats’ ruling coalition.