Who will succeed Yoshihide Suga as PM of Japan? Here's what surveys found | World News - Hindustan Times
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Who will succeed Yoshihide Suga as PM of Japan? Here's what surveys found

By | Written by Karan Manral, New Delhi
Sep 06, 2021 08:18 AM IST

Taro Kono, who is in-charge of Japan's Covid-19 vaccination drive, emerged as the most popular pick to be the island's next prime minister in two separate polls.

Two separate surveys in Japan have found that Taro Kono, the administrative reforms minister who is in-charge of the country’s vaccination drive against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), is the most popular pick to be the island’s next prime minister. The exercise was conducted after Yoshihide Suga, the incumbent prime minister who succeeded Shinzo Abe last year, announced his decision to step down after just one year in office.

Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga (Reuters File Photo)
Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga (Reuters File Photo)

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“Kono got 31.9 per cent support from respondents in the nationwide telephone survey conducted on Saturday and Sunday. Former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba was next with 26.6 per cent votes, ahead of former foreign minister Fumio Kishida who was supported by 18.8 per cent of the respondents,” the News poll informed about its survey which, it said, was conducted among 1071 randomly selected eligible voters.

Seiko Noda and Sanae Takaichi, two potential female candidates, were fourth and fifth, with 4.4% and 4% support respectively, the poll found. 

Also Read | As Suga steps down, here are potential candidates for Japan's next prime minister

Meanwhile, the survey carried out by the Yomiuri newspaper found Tono, 58, to be the most popular choice (23 per cent), followed by others in the same order as in the News polls survey.

Last Friday, Suga announced he will not contest the upcoming presidential elections of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), explaining that he only wants to focus on controlling the spread of Covid-19 in the country. The decision means that he will step down as the prime minister as soon as his term as the LDP’s president comes to an end later this month.

Suga, too, has reportedly backed Tono as his successor. The latter served as Japan’s foreign minister and defence minister under Abe.

(With agency inputs)

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