OREANDA-NEWS. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, decided to run for the post of new chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Thus, he intends to succeed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is retiring for health reasons.

Traditionally, the leader of the ruling party in Japan also holds the post of head of government. The election of a new party’s leader should be held on September 14, and two days later a vote in parliament should take place to approve new prime minister.

71-year-old Suga is considered to be the right hand of Abe, having served for almost 8 years as the government chief secretary. His main task was to speak at briefings explaining the current policy of Tokyo.

Beside Suga, two politicians are claiming the post of head of the Liberal Democratic Party and prime minister. They are former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and ex-head of the Defense Ministry Shigeru Ishiba. New leader of the party will hold the post of head of government until the end of the term that was reserved for Abe, September 2021.