Yoshihide Suga | |
|---|---|
菅 義偉 | |
 Official portrait, 2020 | |
| Prime Minister of Japan | |
| In office 16 September 2020 – 4 October 2021 | |
| Monarch | Naruhito |
| Deputy | Tarō Asō |
| Preceded by | Shinzo Abe |
| Succeeded by | Fumio Kishida |
| Vice President of the Liberal Democratic Party | |
| Assumed office 30 September 2024 | |
| President | Shigeru Ishiba |
| Secretary-General | Hiroshi Moriyama |
| Preceded by | Tarō Asō |
| President of the Liberal Democratic Party | |
| In office 14 September 2020 – 29 September 2021 | |
| Secretary-General | Toshihiro Nikai |
| Preceded by | Shinzo Abe |
| Succeeded by | Fumio Kishida |
| Chief Cabinet Secretary | |
| In office 26 December 2012 – 16 September 2020 | |
| Prime Minister | Shinzo Abe |
| Preceded by | Osamu Fujimura |
| Succeeded by | Katsunobu Katō |
| Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications | |
| In office 26 September 2006 – 27 August 2007 | |
| Prime Minister | Shinzo Abe |
| Preceded by | Heizō Takenaka |
| Succeeded by | Hiroya Masuda |
| Member of the House of Representatives | |
| Assumed office 20 October 1996 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Constituency | Kanagawa 2nd |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 December 1948 Yuzawa, Japan |
| Political party | Liberal Democratic |
| Spouse | Mariko Suga |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | Hosei University (LLB) |
| Signature | .svg){kind=small} |
| Website | Official website |
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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, Suga moved to Tokyo after graduating from high school, where he enrolled in Hosei University. Shortly after graduating, 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 was elected to succeed him in the LDP presidential election and was subsequently elected prime minister by the Diet and appointed by Emperor Naruhito.
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 fell due to public dissatisfaction with the government's handling of the pandemic and the Olympic Games. Facing hesitancy from his party amid preparation for the upcoming 2021 general election, Suga announced on 3 September 2021 that he would not seek reelection in the 2021 LDP presidential election, effectively resigning as party president and prime minister. His tenure officially ended on 4 October 2021 after he was succeeded by Fumio Kishida.