Takaichi May Reshuffle Cabinet, LDP Leadership Sept. 16-18

Tokyo, Sept. 2 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who also heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is considering reshuffling her cabinet and the LDP’s executive lineup as early as Sept. 16-18, it has been learned. The schedule is based on the assumption that a fiscal 2027 tax system reform package including a plan to lower the consumption tax rate on food will be approved by the cabinet Sept. 15, government officials have told senior LDP officials. It would be the first time for Takaichi, who took office last October, to reshuffle the cabinet. She apparently aims to ensure stability for her government by accepting a member of the Japan Innovation Party, the LDP’s coalition partner, as a cabinet minister for the first time while solidifying her power base within the LDP, in a bid to win a second term as LDP president in the party’s leadership election to be held in autumn next year. No JIP member currently serves as a minister. According to informed sources, Takaichi plans to conduct the reshuffles between the planned adoption of the tax reform package and her departure to New York late this month to attend a U.N. General Assembly session. Takaichi is expected to reshuffle her cabinet, the LDP leadership team and the lineup of state ministers and parliamentary vice ministers over the course of three days from Sept. 16. According to the sources, a plan has also emerged to convene an extraordinary session of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, on Oct. 2 or Oct. 5 to give newly appointed ministers enough time to prepare their answers to questions in parliamentary debates. The proposed schedules for the reshuffles and the start of the Diet session may be pushed back if cabinet approval for the tax reform package is delayed. One of the focal points of the envisaged reshuffles is whether Takaichi can enhance her political standing and consolidate her support within the LDP, ahead of the party presidential election to be held in line with the end of her current term as LDP president in September 2027. A key is the treatment of members of the intraparty faction led by LDP Vice President Taro Aso, a major backer of the Takaichi administration. Specifically, the focus is whether LDP Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki, a member of the faction and brother-in-law of Aso, will be retained. Attention is also being paid to how many ministerial posts will be allocated to the Aso faction. The current Takaichi cabinet has one minister from the faction, National Public Safety Commission Chairman Jiro Akama. Another point of focus is how Takaichi will treat Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, internal affairs minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, and LDP policy chief Takayuki Kobayashi. All four ran against Takaichi for LDP presidency last year. The hurdle will be high for the four to run in next year’s LDP presidential election if they are given important posts in the upcoming cabinet reshuffle. In the run-up to the reshuffles, the LDP leadership team had party members fill out a questionnaire on their preferred posts in late August. Takaichi is believed to have already started a detailed examination of the results of the survey. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]