[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] According to reports by Mainichi Shimbun and others on the 8th, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is considering replacing three of the four key executives of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), excluding Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi, in the cabinet reshuffle and LDP executive personnel changes to be implemented on the 10th.
According to the reports, the candidates for replacement are Sanae Takaichi, Chairperson of the Policy Research Council, Tatsuo Fukuda, Chairman of the General Council, and Toshiaki Endo, Chairperson of the Election Strategy Committee. Local foreign media have reported that as a successor to Takaichi, who was close to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a member of the Abe faction, the largest faction within the LDP, with ministerial experience, is emerging as a candidate.
Takaichi, considered a hardline conservative, is not a member of the Abe faction but has been evaluated as representing former Prime Minister Abe’s positions within the party, such as a significant increase in defense spending. Because of this, she has clashed with Prime Minister Kishida and Secretary-General Motegi. Fukuda, a member of the Abe faction and Chairman of the General Council, recently caused controversy by saying, regarding the relationship between the Unification Church (Family Federation for World Peace and Unification) and LDP members, "I do not really understand what the problem is."
Japanese media report that Prime Minister Kishida is unlikely to replace Secretary-General Motegi, leader of the second-largest faction Motegi faction, and Taro Aso, LDP Vice President and leader of the third-largest faction Aso faction. After former Prime Minister Abe’s death, it is expected that Kishida’s own faction, the fourth-largest Kishida faction, along with the Motegi and Aso factions, will strengthen their unity.
While there are expectations that Prime Minister Kishida will carry out a major reshuffle replacing more than half of the cabinet ministers, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno (Abe faction), Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi (Kishida faction), and Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki (Aso faction) are likely to remain in their posts. Nobuo Kishi, Minister of Defense and younger brother of former Prime Minister Abe (Abe faction), is mentioned as a candidate for replacement.
Local media attribute the rapid progress of the cabinet reshuffle and LDP executive personnel changes, originally scheduled for early next month, to the sharp decline in Prime Minister Kishida’s approval ratings. Since its launch in October last year, the Kishida Cabinet’s approval ratings had been on the rise, but they have recently fallen due to the resurgence of COVID-19 and the incident involving the death of former Prime Minister Abe.
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