Japanese PM Shinzo Abe resigns

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Cabinet resigned, clearing the way for his successor to take over after parliamentary confirmation later today.

 

Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, announced last month that he was stepping down because of health problems.

 

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, was chosen as the new head of the governing Liberal Democratic Party, virtually guaranteeing his election as prime minister in a parliamentary vote



Wednesday because of the party's majority.

 

Suga, has promised to serve the interests of ordinary people and rural communities.

 

He has said he will pursue Abe's unfinished policies, and that his top priorities will be fighting the coronavirus and turning around an economy battered by the pandemic.

 

Suga said he will appoint “reform-minded, hard-working people” to the new Cabinet, to be launched later today.