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TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has left key ministers in their posts during a cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday, including finance, trade and foreign affairs, while naming a single woman in the new composition. .
The new Japanese Defense Minister, Takeshi Iwaya, addresses the media in the official residence of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo, Japan, on October 2, 2018. REUTERS / Issei Kato
Abe, who has made women's empowerment a leading policy, has appointed Satsuki Katayama, Conservative legislator and former chief financial officer, as Minister of Regional Revitalization and Gender Equality, said the secretary general of the Cabinet, Yoshihide Suga, during the cabinet announcement.
Abe, who returned to office in December 2012 after a troubled term in 2006-07, was re-elected as leader of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) last month, putting him in the process of becoming Japan's prime minister.
Abe's reshuffle seems to have focused on stability as he prepares to continue his controversial attempt to revise the post-war pacifist constitution, political experts said.
His allies Suga and Finance Minister Taro Aso have been renamed.
Minister of Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko, Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Minister of Economy Toshimitsu Motegi, who had tough trade talks with Washington, also maintained their post.
"He was named old friends and reliable allies and kept people in portfolios essential to buy stability," said Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian Studies on the Japanese campus of Temple University.
He stated that the appointment of a female minister to a 19-member cabinet "exposes the empty grand images of" Womenomics "". The previous cabinet had two female members.
Abe appointed a legislator – the Minister of Justice, Takashi Yamashita – of the LDP faction led by former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, whom he defeated during the leadership race. LDP.
Abe has chosen Takeshi Iwaya, a former deputy defense minister, to replace Itsunori Onodera as minister of defense. Iwaya was recently known for supporting the legalization of casinos in Japan.
Akira Amari, a former economy minister who resigned to take on responsibility for a funding scandal in 2016, has been appointed the LDP's executive for election strategy in anticipation of the critical elections to the upper house of the LDP. Next year, party officials announced.
Abe has made it clear that he wants to move ahead with his proposed amendment to Article 9 of the Constitution to clarify the ambiguous status of his armed forces, known as the Autonomous Defense Forces (SDF).
But his immediate challenges are managing tough trade relations with Washington and keeping economic recovery on track.
Last week, Abe and US President Donald Trump agreed to open new negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement that Washington would refrain from increasing tariffs on Japanese car exports for the moment, but Trump could revive the threat if progress is slow.
Additional report by Kaori Kaneko; edited by Shri Navaratnam and Darren Schuettler
