Japan’s Parliament elects former diplomat Fumio Kishida as new prime minister

Japan’s parliament elected former foreign minister Fumio Kishida as the new prime minister Monday.

Kishida replaces his predecessor, Yoshihide Suga, who resigned with his Cabinet earlier in the day. Kishida and his Cabinet will be sworn in later in the day.

Kishida, who replaced Suga as head of the Liberal Democratic Party leader last week, is tasked with quickly tackling the pandemic and other domestic and global challenges and leading an imminent national election within weeks.