Oct. 1 (UPI) — The Japanese parliament officially elected Shigeru Ishiba as the country’s new prime minister on Tuesday.
Ishiba, 67, received 291 of 461 votes cast to become the nation’s 102nd prime minister after he was elected the new leader of the Liberal Democratic Party earlier this month, replacing Fumio Kishida who stepped down amid a slush-fund scandal within the party.
The vote was met with opposition from smaller opposition parties who criticized Ishiba for declaring on Monday he would call for a Lower House election on Oct. 27 ahead of officially being elected prime minister.
“It is an unprecedented and extremely unusual move,” said Junya Ogawa, secretary-general of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the leading opposition group to the Liberal Democrats. “There are constitutional questions, and we demand an apology and a retraction.”
Despite the opposition, parliament voted to end the extraordinary Diet session on Oct. 9.
“I will promote political reforms immediately, so we can be trusted by the people,” Ishiba said in his first press conference.
In what appeared to be a tilt toward defense and security, Ishiba appointed several people with deep defense experience to his cabinet.
New Defense Minister Gen Nakatani had been defense minister in the past, like the new Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya. Akihisa Nagashima, a former state minister of defense with knowledge of the United States, will serve as a special adviser to Ishiba.
A former vice defense minister for international affairs, Akihiro Tsuchimichi, will serve as executive secretary to Ishiba.