Japan's Diet starts extraordinary session to elect new Prime Minister

Tokyo: Japan's National Diet started an extraordinary session on Wednesday, in which the newly elected President of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Yoshihide Suga is expected to be officially named as the country's new Prime Minister.

The House of Representatives and the House of Councilors are convening to each name their choice for the successor of outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose Cabinet resigned en masse Wednesday morning, Xinhua news agency reported.

Suga is certain to be chosen as the next Prime Minister owing to the LDP's dominance in both chambers of Japan's bicameral Parliament. Later in the day, Suga will announce the members of his new cabinet before being formally inaugurated at a ceremony at the Imperial Palace. At the age of 71, Suga will be the oldest Prime Minister to take office since Kiichi Miyazawa in 1991. His premiership will last through the remainder of Abe's term as LDP leader until September 2021.

In the run-up to his inauguration, Suga said he would continue to promote Abe's policies, including his "Abenomics" of aggressive monetary easing, fiscal stimulus and structural reforms, to breathe life back into the recession-hit Japanese economy. Suga will also continue the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, utilizing the 230 trillion yen (2.2 trillion US dollar) package allocated for tackling the disease.