The Japanese Parliament formally elected President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Shinzo Abe as Prime Minister on Wednesday. Mr. Abe won the support of 328 members of the 478-seat lower house. Earlier, at the second round of vote at the Diet, Mr.  Abe defeated his rival the President of the Democratic Party of Japan Banri Kaieda after winning 107 out of 234 votes. Mr. Abe was the Japanese Prime Minister from 2006 to 2007 and had to resign due to health problems. His return as Prime Minister was resulted from his contribution to the Liberal Democratic Party’s victory at the lower house election on December 16.