Japan's parliament elected Shigeru Ishiba as the new prime minister on Tuesday, tasked with addressing public outrage over his governing party's corruption scandals ahead of a parliamentary election later this month, while trying to boost the economy and tackle security challenges from China and North Korea, reports Associated Press.
Ishiba replaces Fumio Kishida, who stepped down earlier Tuesday to pave the way for a fresh leader after Kishida's government was dogged by scandals.
Ishiba entered the Prime Minister's Office and formed his Cabinet, which includes several security and defense experts, as he has called for a stronger regional military alliance and a more equal Japan-U.S. security partnership.
Ishiba called a news conference later Tuesday to announce his Cabinet and some of his policy priorities.
Ishiba said he plans to call a parliamentary election for Oct. 27 so his new administration can have "the people's judgement" as soon as possible.
Ishiba appointed to his Cabinet two former defense ministers with whom he has worked closely — Takeshi Iwaya as foreign minister and Gen Nakatani as defense chief — underscoring his emphasis on defense and security policies.
Only two of the 19 ministers are women: actor-turned-lawmaker Junko Mihara as children's policy minister and Toshiko Abe as education minister. The government is under pressure to increase the number of women in public office. Women now account for only 10% of the lower house, placing Japan near the bottom of global gender-equality rankings.
Ishiba appointed several ministers who voted for him in the party leadership poll and retained Kishida's top confidante, Yoshimasa Hayashi, as chief Cabinet secretary. He also appointed Katsunobu Kato as finance minister. Hayashi also previously served as defense minister.
The majority of his Cabinet members, including Ishiba, are unaffiliated with factions led and controlled by party heavyweights, and none are from former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's powerful group linked to damaging scandals.
