Japan's Abe Keeps Core Economic Team, Adds New Faces to Cabinet
Shinzo Abe kept his economic team including Finance Minister Taro Aso and added several first-time cabinet members in reshuffle.
(Bloomberg) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe kept his economic team including Finance Minister Taro Aso and added several first-time cabinet members in a reshuffle following his election last month to a third-straight term as ruling party leader.
Abe, who’s in position to become Japan’s longest-serving premier, has said he would prioritize a divisive effort to change the pacifist Article 9 of the seven-decade-old constitution, as well as shaking up the social security system to deal with the rapidly aging population. The next parliamentary session may start at the end of the month, according to local media reports.
In advance of an upper house election next year, Abe appointed close associate Akira Amari to an electoral strategy post in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, a political rehabilitation after he resigned over a financial scandal in 2016. LDP Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai and policy chief Fumio Kishida remain in their posts.
Here is the new Cabinet lineup:
Title | Name | Age | Status |
---|---|---|---|
Deputy Prime Minister/Finance Minister | Taro Aso | 78 | Retained |
Chief Cabinet Secretary | Yoshihide Suga | 69 | Retained |
Foreign Minister | Taro Kono | 55 | Retained |
Trade Minister | Hiroshige Seko | 55 | Retained |
Economy Minister | Toshimitsu Motegi | 62 | Retained |
Transport Minister | Keiichi Ishii | 60 | Retained |
Defense Minister | Takeshi Iwaya | 61 | New |
Internal Affairs Minister | Masatoshi Ishida | 66 | New |
Health Minister | Takumi Nemoto | 67 | New |
Agriculture Minister | Takamori Yoshikawa | 67 | New |
Education Minister | Masahiko Shibayama | 52 | New |
Justice Minister | Takashi Yamashita | 53 | New |
Environment Minister | Yoshiaki Harada | 74 | New |
Reconstruction Minister | Hiromichi Watanabe | 68 | New |
Information Technology and Science Minister | Takuya Hirai | 60 | New |
Regional Revitalization Minister | Satsuki Katayama | 59 | New |
Olympics and Paralympics Minister | Yoshitaka Sakurada | 68 | New |
Chairperson of National Public Safety Commission | Junzo Yamamoto | 63 | New |
Minister for Okinawa and Northern Territories | Mitsuhiro Miyakoshi | 67 | New |
To contact the reporters on this story: Isabel Reynolds in Tokyo at ireynolds1@bloomberg.net;Emi Nobuhiro in Tokyo at enobuhiro@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net
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