Shigeru Ishiba To Become Japan’s Next PM

Former Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba is set to become the next prime minister of Japan. The development comes as Japan’s ruling party picked Shigeru Ishiba as its leader. It is to be noted that party leadership is the ticket to the country's top post because the Liberal Democratic Party’s ruling coalition currently controls the parliament. The 67-year-old will assume command once parliament convenes in October.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced his decision to resign from the post in August amid a series of corruption scandals within the party. Shigeru Ishiba defeated economic security minister Sanae Takaichi in the runoff, with 215 votes to 194. Sanae Takaichi would have become the country's first female prime minister if she had won today's leadership race.

Shigeru Ishiba reportedly entered politics after a short banking career. He entered parliament in 1986 at the age of 29 and was Japan's youngest-ever lower-house member at the time, reported the Financial Times. At the same time, the new Prime Minister must address the rising anger over rising living costs and navigate a volatile regional security environment fuelled by an increasingly assertive China and nuclear-armed North Korea.