Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday reshuffled his 11-month old cabinet, replacing key ministerial posts including chief cabinet secretary and ministers of defense, foreign affairs and finance with veteran politicians.
Earlier in the day, as the ruling party president, Abe also named a whole new leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). With the inauguration of the new cabinet, a question stands out: Can the premier reverse his political fortune and regain public trust after minister scandals, pension record fiasco and a crushing defeat at July's upper house election?
In Monday's shake-up, Nobutaka Machimura, 62, was appointed as foreign minister, a post he held under former premier Junichiro Koizumi. Masahiko Komura, 65, another former foreign minister, became defense minister.
Meanwhile, Kaoru Yosano, a known policy expert, was chosen as new chief cabinet secretary. He in the past held various key posts including education minister, trade minister and economic policy minister.
Abe said at a press conference late Monday that with the new cabinet members, he would endeavor to "win back once again the trust in politics and the administration that we've lost."
The premier said he chose the appropriate individuals for the respective posts according to their capabilities, but also stressed that the new ministers must come clean with their political funds.
Abe announced his intention to revamp the top layer of the government and his party shortly after the ruling coalition's embarrassing failure at July's election to retain majority in the House of Councillors. Despite sliding support rate and calling for him to resign even from his own party, the 52-year-old leader said he would remain at his post and continue the reforms and work towards the goal to "build a beautiful country."
At the reshuffle, former defense agency chief Fukushiro Nukaga was named as the cabinet's finance minister while former political commentator Yoichi Masuzoe will take the post as health and welfare minister.
The post of justice minister went to 58-year-old Kunio Hatoyama, who formerly served as education and labor minister. Former prefectural governor Hiroya Masuda was chosen as internal affairs and communications minister.
Abe said earlier that he would not form the cabinet along party faction lines. In Monday's shake-up, he apparently tried to strike a balance by also including those who do not belong to any factions, like Yosano and Masuzoe.
Hard as the premier tried to make a brand new start, he has suffered a sliding support rate down to less than 30 percent in recent newspaper polls after the July election.
During the 11 months of his first cabinet, four ministers left the cabinet -- three over political fund scandals and one over a gaffe. The record-keeping errors resulting in some 50 million unidentified pension accounts put the premier at an even more unfavorable situation.
Meanwhile, Abe's political goals to make Japan "a beautiful country," "free the nation from the postwar regime" and eventually revise the Constitution seemed to have received not so much applause.
His management of domestic political affairs has also been under criticism. Supported by a comfortable majority in the more powerful lower house, the ruling bloc forced a vote on a total of 17 occasions, under Abe's orders, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper said recently, calling it "a brutal manner."
As the majority in the upper house now belongs to the opposition, the ruling party could hardly conduct political affairs in the same manner.
Another issue is whether the special anti-terrorism law, which is vital for Japan to participate in international peacekeeping mission, can be extended before its expiration on Nov. 1. The opposition has reiterated that it would block the passage of such bills. If the law can not be extended in time, the US-Japan alliance may be affected since Japan would not be able to continue refueling US-led coalition forces in the Indian Ocean without the law.
Besides, if the pension record-keeping errors could not be tackled appropriately, Abe's pressure can hardly be expected to be alleviated.
The cabinet reshuffle gave Abe no chance to make mistakes again. If any minister was associated with scandals again or government bills fail to pass the parliament in time, Abe's leadership would again be challenged and the voice calling for his resignation could be even louder.
(Xinhua News Agency August 28, 2007)
