DHAKA: Former defense minister Yuriko Koike has been elected governor of Tokyo, the first woman to lead Japan’s capital.

Koike, running as an independent candidate, received more than 2.9 million votes in Sunday’s election, beating her opponents by a wide margin, reports the BBC.

One of her key challenges will be curbing the financial problems plaguing Tokyo’s preparations to host the 2020 Olympic Games.

Both her predecessors resigned over funding scandals

“I will lead Tokyo politics in an unprecedented manner, a Tokyo you have never seen,” Ms Koike, 64, told cheering supporters.

“While feeling the weight of this result, I want to thoroughly push the metropolitan government forward as the new governor.”

Koike is a member of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), but it did not endorse her so she ran as an independent.

BDST: 1327 HRS, AUG 01, 2016
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