In Japan, Shigeru Ishiba is officially elected Prime Minister

A choice of continuity. Shigeru Ishiba officially became the new Prime Minister of Japan on Tuesday October 1, following a vote in Parliament, where the ruling coalition has a comfortable majority. This vote was no more than a formality after the election won on Friday by Shigeru Ishiba, 67, to take the head of the Liberal Democratic Party (conservative right).

Shigeru Ishiba should immediately announce the composition of his government which will have to face a series of economic, political and international challenges. Former general secretary of the executive branch, Katsunobu Kato, is tipped to become finance minister, while Gen Nakatani would be in charge of Defense and Takeshi Iwaya of Foreign Affairs, according to local media.

The Prime Minister announced on Monday that he wanted to establish his legitimacy by calling early legislative elections on October 27.

Shigeru Ishiba, a seasoned politician who has already held several ministerial positions including Defense and Agriculture, had attempted four times to take the reins of the Liberal Democratic Party. His personality, which divides within the party, is the opposite of that of his predecessor Fumio Kishida, relatively popular among voters, according to analysts.

Among the series of challenges on the economic and political levels, the new head of government will be confronted in particular with the sluggish consumption of Japanese households and the weakness of wage growth, which constitute a brake on the country’s growth.