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Japan to Form New Cabinet on September 16, Lawmaker Says

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TOKYO (Sputnik) - Japan’s new cabinet will be formed on September 16, two days after the parliament appoints a successor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a senior lawmaker in his party said Wednesday.

Hiroshi Moriyama, the chairman of the parliamentary affairs committee with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), said the government should resume its work without delay, according to the Kyodo news agency.

The LDP controls the lower house of parliament and its next president is almost certain to head the government. The leadership contest Abe begins on September 8 and ends in a vote on September 14.

Abe’s longtime right-hand man Yoshihide Suga is touted as the favourite. He is challenged by former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and ex-Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Suga said he would continue Abe’s signature economic policy, and seek a peace treaty with Russia and a meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump (R) during their meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 10, 2017. - Sputnik International
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Abe officially announced on 28 August his plan to step down, citing health issues. 

The outgoing prime minister is leaving office due to ulcerative colitis, a chronic disease that already caused him to abandon the premiership in 2007. Despite those circumstances, he once again assumed the prime minister's chair in 2012 and went on to become the longest-serving Japanese head of government.

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