Focus: They call him, 'Uncle Reiwa' back home but Suga is a political veteran and karate black belt holder too

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, receives flowers from Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga after Suga was elected as new head of Japan's ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) leadership election Monday, Sept. 14,2020, in Tokyo. The ruling LDP chooses its new leader in an internal vote to pick a successor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who announced his intention to resign last month due to illness. (AP

TOKYO, Sept 14 (dpa): Yoshihide Suga, known as one of outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's right-hand men, is all but assured of becoming Japan’s next leader after winning the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) leadership race.

Suga pledged to continue Abe’s policies, including his "Abenomics" economic policy, but he first has to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic fallout.