Murai Likely to Be Named Diet Affairs Head in LDP Exec Reshuffle

Tokyo, Sept. 13 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is considering appointing former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hideki Murai as parliamentary affairs chief of her ruling Liberal Democratic Party in a party leadership reshuffle, informed sources said Sunday. It is customary for the post of LDP parliamentary affairs chief to be held by a former cabinet minister, so appointing someone who has never served in the cabinet would be an unusual move. The prime minister apparently aims to signal a fresh start for the LDP leadership team by naming Murai, who is active in parliamentary reform, to the post, party sources said. Murai, 46, has been elected to the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, six times. The former Finance Ministry bureaucrat served as a special adviser to the prime minister in the administration of former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and as deputy chief cabinet secretary, a role that serves as a coordinator between the LDP’s Diet affairs committee and the prime minister’s office. Since then, he has been involved in negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties in the Diet, serving in roles such as the ruling bloc’s chief director of the Lower House steering committee. In the extraordinary Diet session scheduled to be convened in early October at the earliest, the focus will be on bills related to a consumption tax cut on food products and a bill to reduce the number of Lower House seats. Meanwhile, Takaichi held talks with Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara at the prime minister’s official residence Sunday. She plans to conduct the reshuffle of the LDP’s leadership as early as Wednesday, followed by a cabinet reshuffle and appointments of state ministers and parliamentary vice ministers. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]