TOKYO: Yoshihide Suga has been elected as the new Prime Minister of Japan following the resignation of Shinzo Abe due to ill health.

Suga, who served as chief cabinet secretary and right-hand man to outgoing leader Shinzo Abe, was voted in by the lower house of parliament where his ruling Liberal Democratic Party holds a majority. He is expected to form a "continuity cabinet" that keeps about half of his predecessor's line-up.