In race to replace Japan's Abe, loyalist Suga emerges as strong contender

FILE PHOTO: Japan's top government spokesman Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga smiles during an interview with Reuters in Tokyo, Japan August 26, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato

TOKYO (Reuters) - Yoshihide Suga, a longtime lieutenant of Japan's Shinzo Abe, has emerged as a strong contender to succeed him as prime minister, an outcome that would extend the fiscal and monetary stimulus that defined Abe's nearly eight years in office.

Abe, Japan's longest-serving premier, said on Friday he was stepping down due to a worsening of a chronic illness, setting the stage for a leadership election within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).