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Yoshihide Suga

Yoshihide Suga (菅 義偉, Suga Yoshihide, born 6 December 1948) is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2020 to 2021. He had served as Chief Cabinet Secretary during the second administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe from 2012 to 2020. During Abe's first administration, Suga served as Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications from 2006 to 2007. Born to a family of strawberry farmers in rural Akita Prefecture during the Allied occupation of Japan, Suga moved to Tokyo after graduating from high school, where he enrolled in Hosei University. Shortly after graduating with a Bachelor of Laws, Suga became an aide to Representative Hikosaburo Okonogi in 1975, before entering politics himself when he was elected to the Yokohama Municipal Assembly in 1987. In the 1996 election, Suga was elected to the House of Representatives, representing Kanagawa's 2nd district as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). During his time in the Diet, Suga became a close ally of Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe. When Abe first became prime minister in 2006, he appointed Suga to the Cabinet as Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications. Suga left the Cabinet a year later, but after the LDP won the 2012 election, Suga was appointed Chief Cabinet Secretary, a role he would hold throughout Abe's second term as prime minister. This made him the longest-serving Chief Cabinet Secretary in Japanese history. In September 2020, after Abe announced that he would resign due to health concerns, Suga declared his candidacy in the subsequent LDP leadership election. Widely considered the frontrunner, Suga comfortably won the election on 14 September with 70% of the vote. Two days later, he was formally elected prime minister by the Diet and appointed by Emperor Naruhito, making him the first new Prime Minister of the Reiwa era. After his election as LDP leader, Suga stated that his premiership would focus on continuing the economic policies and goals of the Abe administration, including adding a new clause to Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution legitimizing the existence of Japan Self-Defense Forces, and securing the release of Japanese abductees from North Korea. Suga's premiership focused primarily on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, including overseeing the rollout of vaccines in the country. Suga's time in office also saw the holding of the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo and the announcement of a plan for Japan to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. While Suga began his time in office relatively popular, his approval ratings quickly fell due to public dissatisfaction with the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and management of the delayed Olympic Games. By the end of Suga's premiership, he was recording some of the lowest approval ratings in Japanese history. Facing hesitancy from his party amid preparation for the 2021 LDP leadership election and upcoming 2021 general election, Suga announced on 3 September 2021 that because of the dissatisfaction shown from members of the Liberal Democratic Party he would resign as President of his party which would become effective on 30 September 2021. His tenure officially ended on 4 October 2021 after he was succeeded by Fumio Kishida.