Fumio Kishida reelected Japan’s prime minister

Fumio Kishida was reelected as Japan’s prime minister on Wednesday after his governing party scored a major victory in key parliamentary elections.

Kishida garnered 141 out of 242 votes possible.

His closest rival, Yukio Edano, the leader of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, received 108 votes.

According to the results of voting in the upper house, Kishida got 141 votes out of 242 possible, and Edano garnered 60. When the prime minister is elected, the lower house has priority over the upper one, and it is the result of voting in it that determines the new head of government.

Kishida took over as chairman of the ruling party on September 29 and was elected prime minister on October 4. In November, Kishida's government intends to approve a new package of measures to support the economy and the population amid the pandemic. Its volume is expected to be over 30 trillion yen (over $265 billion).