Bi Zhenshan
"Workers Daily" (August 11, 2022 Edition 08)
On August 10, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida conducted a cabinet reshuffle and senior personnel adjustments of the Liberal Democratic Party.
A total of 9 of the 19 members of the new cabinet have joined the cabinet for the first time.
In the opinion of analysts, Kishida's reshuffle of the cabinet has two major characteristics, one is to balance the factions within the Liberal Democratic Party, and the other is to replace people associated with the "Unification Church".
But it remains to be seen whether the reshuffle can boost the Kishida government's approval ratings.
On the afternoon of the 10th, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroichi Matsuno announced the list of new cabinet members.
There are 19 cabinet members in the new cabinet, of which 9 are first-time cabinet members.
Five members of the original cabinet remained in office, namely, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Fangzheng, Minister of Finance Shunichi Suzuki, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroichi Matsuno, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Saito Tiefu, Minister in charge of economic regeneration and Minister in charge of new crown countermeasures Daishiro Yamaji.
The Minister of Defense, which has attracted much attention, is served by Yasushi Hamada, who served as Minister of Defense during the Aso Cabinet in 2008, and Nobuo Kishi, the former Minister of Defense, served as the Prime Minister's Assistant.
Before the list of the new cabinet was released, Kishida made personnel adjustments to the top officials of the Liberal Democratic Party.
Among the four major positions, the Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi remained in office, the former Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Koichi Hagiita was appointed as the Chairman of the Political Consultation Committee, the former Election Countermeasures Committee member Toshiaki Nagato was transferred to the General Affairs Chairman, and the former Acting General Affairs Chairman Moriyama Yu was appointed as the Chairman of the Election Countermeasures Committee.
In addition, Vice President Taro Aso and National Assembly Countermeasures Committee Chairman Takeshi Takagi remain in office.
Kishida was originally scheduled to reshuffle the cabinet in September, but he said on August 6 that in order to cope with challenges such as the new crown epidemic and soaring prices, he decided to reshuffle the cabinet ahead of schedule.
According to Japanese media analysis, the change of factional forces within the Liberal Democratic Party caused by Abe’s death, and the decline in the Kishida government’s support rate caused by the exposure of some Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers and cabinet members with the “Unification Church” are important reasons for Kishida to make personnel adjustments.
The final result also shows that Kishida has indeed adjusted for these two aspects.
The Abe faction is the largest faction within the Liberal Democratic Party.
After Abe's death, the Abe faction decided not to set up a new leader, but to be led by a guard group of seven people.
The outside world is therefore concerned about whether Kishida will take the opportunity of the reorganization to weaken the influence of the Abe faction.
In the reorganized Liberal Democratic Party and the cabinet, the Abe faction still occupies some key positions, such as Hagiita Koichi, Takagi Takeshi, Matsuno Hiroichi and the new Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasunori Nishimura are all members of the Abe faction's 7-member group.
But other factions within the Liberal Democratic Party have also gained some positions, such as the Aso faction, Motegi faction, Kishida faction, Second-order faction, Moriyama faction, Tanagaki faction, etc.
Before announcing that he would reshuffle the cabinet, Kishida stressed that he had nothing to do with the Unification Church and asked cabinet members to review and report on their relationship with the Unification Church.
The results of the reorganization showed that seven people, including Nobuo Kishi, who were exposed to be related to the "Unification Church", were replaced.
Some analysts pointed out that judging from the list of the new Liberal Democratic Party senior management and cabinet, the Kishida regime has not completely shaken off the influence of the Abe faction, but Kishida is trying to gain more support within the party by balancing the factions.
The new cabinet also reflects Kishida's tendency to value experience and promote newcomers.
After the reorganization is completed, Kishida's governing focus will turn to dealing with the various challenges currently facing it. It remains to be seen whether the public opinion rating of the new cabinet will rebound.
First of all, Yamaji Daishiro, who remained in office, and the new Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, Terada Minoru, both admitted on the 10th that they were related to the "Unification Church".
Therefore, some voices questioned the incomplete separation of Kishida and the "Unification Church".
Secondly, the seventh wave of the new crown epidemic in Japan is currently spreading rapidly. The number of new infections in a single day has exceeded 200,000 for several consecutive days. On the 10th, the number of new confirmed cases of the new crown in a single day exceeded 250,000 for the first time, setting a new high since the outbreak.
Japan's medical institutions, business premises and people's lives have been greatly affected.
Controlling the epidemic as soon as possible and restoring public confidence are the top priorities of the Kishida government.
Third, affected by factors such as rising energy prices and the depreciation of the yen, Japan's trade balance deteriorated, and the current account surplus fell sharply in the first half of the year, of which both the trade in goods and services were in deficit.
At the same time, rising prices have put pressure on residents' lives.
How to control inflation and boost the economy is a difficult problem that Kishida's "new capitalism" needs to solve.