Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has defeated former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida in an internal election to succeed Shinzo Abe as president of the Liberal Democratic Party.

Nikkei Asian Review reports that the Chief Cabinet Secretary is “all but certain” to succeed Shinzo Abe as Japan’s Prime Minister. An internal election was held to select the new president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party after current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced his resignation due to health reasons, as we previously reported.

Yoshihide Suga took 377 of the party’s 534 votes. Opponents Shigeru Ishiba and Fumio Kishida meanwhile failed to reach 100 with 89 and 68 votes respectively.

The 71-year-old successor has said that it’s his intention to carry on the economic policies of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Yoshihide Suga has also plans to create a federal agency to handle the “digitalization” of government, and improve telecommunications within the nation.

Yoshihide Suga will likely be formally elected to the office of Prime Minister this Wednesday. Both houses of Japanese parliament are currently controlled by Suga’s Liberal Democratic Party.

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Image: Wikipedia