Shigeru Ishiba becomes Japan PM

TOKYO:

Japan got a new prime minister on Tuesday, with Shigeru Ishiba setting out to jumpstart a lacklustre economy, defuse a demographic crisis and build an Asian NATO to face down China.

Ishiba, 67, says he intends to call a general election for October 27. He won a tight race on Friday to lead the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has governed almost continuously for decades.

The former defence minister outlined his policies at a news conference late on Tuesday, warning that "the security environment surrounding our country is the most severe since the end of World War II".

"With the Japan-US alliance as a foundation, we will expand the circle of friendly and like-minded countries, using diplomacy and defence to realise the peace of Japan and the region," he said.

Ishiba's new cabinet of 19 ministers was announced after the LDP-dominated parliament approved his appointment. Just two were women, who have historically been poorly represented in politics and business in Japan.

Foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa, one of five women in the outgoing cabinet, was replaced by Takeshi Iwaya. Katsunobu Kato, who was health minister during the Covid pandemic, was named finance minister, while Gen Nakatani took defence.

Ishiba, who has held at least three previous ministerial posts, tried and failed four times before to become LDP leader.

He finally succeeded this time because, while a divisive figure within the party, he is relatively popular among voters, analysts said, unlike his predecessor Fumio Kishida.

Ishiba's win "indicates that the LDP sought an experienced leader with broad voter appeal to steer the party in the next national election", said Yuko Nakano of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.