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Japan's New Cabinet Lineup Announced
The lineup of Japan's new cabinet to be led by the re-elected Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori was announced Tuesday evening in Tokyo.
The announcement, made by newly appointed Chief Cabinet Secretary Hidenao Nakagawa, came ahead of the cabinet's official inauguration later in the day. The ministers will be formally appointed after attending an attestation ceremony at Japan's Imperial Palace at around 9 p.m.(1200 GMT).
Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and Foreign Minister Yohei Kono will remain in the cabinet, who will respectively chair the scheduled meeting of Group of Seven (G-7) finance ministers in Fukuoka and the G-8 foreign ministers' meeting in Miyazaki.
The new lineup also keeps the director general of Management and Coordination Agency unchanged. The post was held by Kunihiro Tsuzuki, a member of the New Komeito party, one of the two coalition partners of Mori's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
Chikage Ogi, leader of the New Conservative Party, the other coalition ally, will be appointed construction minister.
Economic Planning Agency chief Taichi Sakaiya, the only member of last cabinet who was not a Diet member, will retain his post.
Yoriko Kawaguchi, a former official of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and now a managing director of liquor maker Suntory Ltd., will become director general of the Environment Agency and the second independent on Mori's list of new ministers.
Okiharu Yasuoka will be appointed justice minister, Mamoru Nishida home affairs minister,Takeo Hiranuma minister of foreign trade and industry, Tadamori Oshima education minister, Yuji Tsushima health and welfare minister, Kimitaka Kuze chairman of the Financial Reconstruction Commission, and Yoichi Tani minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
Mori will appoint Hajime Morita as transport minister, Kozo Hirabayashi, post and telecommunication minister, Yoshio Yoshikawa, labor minister and Kazuo Torashima, defense minister.
The announcement of the cabinet lineup followed the reelection of Mori at both houses of the Diet (parliament) earlier in the day.
In the parliament voting, Mori collected 284 of the 479 ballots cast in the 480-member House of Representatives, and 133 of the 242 ballots cast in the 252-member House of Councilors.
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