Yoshihide Suga elected as new ruling party leader, virtually securing him parliament vote as Japan’s new prime minister

TOKYO (AP) – Yoshihide Suga has been elected as the new head of Japan’s ruling party, virtually guaranteeing him parliamentary election as the country’s next prime minister. Suga received 377 votes in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party election Monday to pick a successor to 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. 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 Wednesday because of the majority held by the Liberal Democrats’ ruling coalition.