SUZUKI ZENKO

born Jan. 11, 1911, Yamada, Iwate prefecture, Japan prime minister of Japan (198082) who worked closely with the United States and other Western countries. The son of a fisherman, Suzuki attended the former Imperial Fisheries Institute and joined the Japan Fisheries Association. At the second postwar general election, in 1947, Suzuki won a seat in the lower house of the Diet (parliament) as a Socialist. Two years later, he switched to the conservative Liberal Party, forerunner of the Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP), and won reelection 12 times, during which period he held several cabinet posts. His abilities as a mediator brought him the chairmanship of the LDP's executive council a record 10 times, but he was virtually unknown abroad when elected prime minister on July 17, 1980. When his predecessor, Ohira Masayoshi, had unexpectedly died 10 days before an election, a three-week battle for succession resulted within the LDP. Suzuki, a loyal and longtime party worker, was the dark-horse winner of the LDP presidency, which assured him the prime ministership. In office Suzuki upheld his political slogan, politics of harmony, while stressing moderate internationalism. In 1982 Suzuki decided not to seek reelection as leader of the LDP, thereby relinquishing the post of prime minister. He retained his seat in the Diet, however, and continued to lead a sizable faction of the LDP.