Lineup of Japan's New Cabinet UnveiledJapanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori reshuffled his cabinet Tuesday, December 5, in preparation for a major reorganization of Japanese government ministries and agencies that will take effect in January 2001.Yasuo Fukuda, new chief cabinet secretary, announced the cabinet lineup ahead of its formal inauguration later in the day. The new ministers will be formally appointed after attending an attestation ceremony at the Imperial Palace expected to begin at around 7 p.m. (local time). Fukuda said the reshuffle will reduce the number of ministers by one to 17 in line with the administrative shakeup, which will cut the number of government entities to 13 from 23. Mori, plagued by dismal public support ratings, is keen to strengthen his grip on power through the reshuffle, the second time since he took office in April. Mori got a boost when former Japanese prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto agreed shortly before the announcement of the lineup to serve as head of the Okinawa Development Agency in his new cabinet. Hashimoto, who was prime minister from January 1996 to July 1998, will become minister in charge of administrative reforms and minister in charge of Okinawa issues after January's organizational shakeup. Hashimoto heads the largest faction of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), whose support is vital for Mori to stay in power. Fukuda said Mori will retain key ministers in the new cabinet, including Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and Foreign Minister Yohei Kono. Mori will also continue his policy to give one post each to the LDP's coalition partners, the New Komeito party and the New Conservative Party (NCP). NCP leader Chikage Ogi will retain her post as construction minister and head of the National Land Agency while also serving as transport minister and head of the Hokkaido Development Agency. The four entities will merge in the reorganization in January. Chikara Sakaguchi, vice representative of the New Komeito party, will be appointed head of the Health and Welfare Ministry and the Labor Ministry, which will also merge. The head of the Economic Planning Agency (EPA) will go to former Defense Agency chief Fukushiro Nukaga, while Hakuo Yanagisawa, who served as head of the Financial Reconstruction Commission in the cabinet of Mori's predecessor Keizo Obuchi, will lead the commission again. Former Education Minister Nobutaka Machimura will serve as head of the Education Ministry and the Science and Technology Agency, which will also be integrated in January. Environment Agency head Yoriko Kawaguchi and International Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma will retain their posts, while former Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura will be appointed to justice minister. Toranosuke Katayama, an LDP House of Councilors member, will be named head of the Home Affairs Ministry, the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry and the Management and Coordination Agency, which will also amalgamate. The post of agriculture, forestry and fisheries minister will be taken up by Yoshio Yatsu, while the defense portfolio will go to Toshitsugu Saito. Former Labor Minister Bunmei Ibuki will head the National Public Safety Commission, and Takashi Sasagawa will become a minister in charge of the Council for Science and Technology Policy, an entity to be established under the new Cabinet Office when the organizational shakeup takes effect in January. The cabinet reshuffle came after Mori survived his biggest trial yet when senior members in the LDP successfully quashed a rebellion by Mori's rivals in the party, who threatened to support a no-confidence motion submitted by four major opposition parties against Mori's cabinet in November. |
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