Japanese Prime Minister Abe to Keep Key Ministers on Cabinet Shuffle

TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to keep key ministers on Tuesday in a cabinet reshuffle, including finance, foreign affairs and economic ministers, who have engaged in tough trade talks with the United States. .

Abe, who returned to power in December 2012, was re-elected last month as leader of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), placing him in the process of becoming Japan's oldest 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.

Abe said he wanted to retain his allies in Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, who also serves as Finance Minister and Chief Cabinet Minister, Yoshihide Suga.

The media announced that he would also keep the Minister of Trade and Industry, Hiroshige Seko, Foreign Minister Taro Kono, and the Minister of Economy, Toshimitsu Motegi.

Abe will call Takeshi Iwaya, a former deputy defense minister, to replace Itsunori Onodera as defense minister, according to media reports. Iwaya has recently attracted public attention for its support for the legalization of casinos in Japan.

Akira Amari, a former economy minister who resigned following a funding scandal in 2016, has been appointed head of the LDP in charge of the electoral strategy in anticipation of the critical elections to the upper chamber next year. , party officials said.

Abe's administration was hit hard by an opposition-backed politician who defeated a rival strongly supported by the ruling bloc in the Sunday election of the governor of Okinawa Island, south of Japan, which houses the bulk of US military forces in Japan.

The winner, Denny Tamaki, opposes a US-Japan plan to move the US Navy's Futenma Air Base to a less populated part of Okinawa and wants the facility to be relocated from the island.

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.

A central bank survey shows that business confidence of major Japanese manufacturers deteriorated in September, reaching its lowest level in nearly a year, as businesses felt the effects of rising cost of raw materials and a series of natural disasters that disrupted production.

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.

Abe was also to appoint former finance minister Satsuki Katayama, the conservative legislator of the LDP, minister responsible for revitalizing the local economy.