Suga Wins Party Vote for Japan Premier

Yoshihide Suga was elected as the new head of Japan’s ruling party on Monday, virtually guaranteeing him parliamentary election as the country’s next prime minister.
Suga received 377 votes in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party election to pick a successor to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who announced last month that he would resign due to health problems. 
The other two contenders received a combined 157 votes—former foreign minister, Fumio Kishida, got 89 and former defense minister, Shigeru Ishiba, had 68, AP reported.
The expected victory in the party vote by Suga, currently the chief Cabinet secretary of Abe’s government, all but guarantees his election in a parliamentary vote on Wednesday because of the majority held by the Liberal Democrats’ ruling coalition.
Suga gained the support of party heavyweights and their wing members early in the campaign on expectations that he would continue Abe’s policies. That his victory appeared to be a done deal has raised criticism from inside and outside the party that the process is undemocratic and murky.
The closed-door politics also apparently led lawmakers to support Suga in hopes of getting favorable party and Cabinet posts in the new administration.
Suga has said his top priorities are fighting the coronavirus and turning around an economy battered by the pandemic. He repeatedly has noted achievements under the Abe-led government when asked about various policies.