Tokyo, Sept. 17 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is set to launch her reshuffled cabinet later on Thursday, retaining most of her key ministers. Takaichi, who also heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, gathered the letters of resignation from her ministers at an extraordinary cabinet meeting in the morning. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, 57, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, 70, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama, 67, and Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, 45, are expected to be reappointed. LDP lawmaker Yoshihiro Seki, 61, former state minister of economy, trade and industry, is likely to be given a ministerial post, joining the cabinet for the first time. Seki, a former member of the now-defunct intraparty faction previously led by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, was involved in the high-profile “slush funds” scandal, which rocked the LDP. He will be the first to obtain a ministerial post among those involved in the political fund scandal since it came to light. Attention is being paid to how Takaichi will treat internal affairs minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, 65, who ran against Takaichi in last year’s LDP leadership election. Hiroshi Nakatsuka, 70, former secretary-general of the Japan Innovation Party, is set to fill a ministerial post, becoming the first cabinet member from the party since it formed a coalition with the LDP in October last year. Among LDP lawmakers, Toshiharu Furukawa, a 63-year-old member of the Senate, the upper parliamentary chamber formerly called the House of Councillors, Hisayuki Fujii, 55, former state minister of foreign affairs, and Hiroyoshi Sasagawa, 60, former state minister of the environment, may be given ministerial posts for the first time. Former Justice Minister Yasuhiro Hanashi, 66, may rejoin the cabinet. The new Takaichi cabinet will be launched Thursday evening following an attestation ceremony for her cabinet ministers at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. The prime minister will hold a press conference later in the day to explain the purpose of the cabinet shake-up and how she will run her administration going forward. Ahead of the cabinet reshuffle, Takaichi revamped the executive lineup of the LDP on Wednesday. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
