TOKYO, JAPAN – SEPTEMBER 6: Former Japanese Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan on September 6, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan. Shigeru Ishiba and former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi are in the lead in the upcoming presidential election for Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, according to recent opinion polls. (Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)
Tomohiro Ohsumi | Yoshinori Ohsumi Getty Images News | Getty Images
Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced the cabinet list on Tuesday, seeking to bridge party differences and secure a national mandate through early elections on October 27.
The 67-year-old former defense minister won the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) last week in a tight race and was confirmed as prime minister by parliament earlier in the day. He is scheduled to hold his first press conference in Tokyo later in the day.
The Ishiba administration’s approach to diplomacy with the United States, Japan’s closest ally, will be in focus as he repeatedly calls for a more balanced relationship with Washington.
He has also proposed creating an Asian version of NATO’s Collective Security Organization to deter China, an idea that is likely to draw the ire of Beijing and has been dismissed as hasty by a senior U.S. official.
Ishiba must quell simmering anger at home over rising living costs and a sluggish economy, and deal with an unstable security environment in East Asia caused by an increasingly assertive China and a nuclear-armed North Korea.
The veteran lawmaker, seen somewhat as a party outsider who has four failed leadership bids, has appointed rivals and allies alike and appointed a cabinet of 20 ministers, including only two women. to half of the previous administration.
The government announced that these include two leadership rivals for key positions, with Katsunobu Kato serving as finance minister and Ringichi Masaru continuing as chief cabinet secretary, a post that includes the role of the government’s top spokesman.
Kato was a supporter of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “Abenomics” expansionary fiscal and monetary policies, and his appointment appears to be a balancing act aimed at easing concerns about the next cabinet’s economic strategy.
The Nikkei fell nearly 5% on Monday as the yen surged after Shigeru Ishiba defeated monetary dove and fiscal expansionist Sanae Takaichi in a leadership battle on Friday. The index pared losses on Tuesday.
Former Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya, a close ally of Ishiba, will take over as foreign minister, while Gen Nakatani will return to the Defense Ministry (a position he held in 2016).
In his victory speech on Friday, he spoke of the need to strengthen Japan’s security following recent incursions into Japanese territory by Chinese and Russian warships.
outside the tent
Five of the MPs vying against him for the leadership were not included in his government or given important party positions.
Among them was hardline conservative Takaichi, who was defeated by 215 votes to 194 on Friday in the closest leadership election in nearly 70 years. Local media reported that she had declined to take a senior party position.
That could make it difficult for Ishiba, long a favorite in polls, to govern a ruling group rocked by scandals such as unrecorded donations at fund-raising parties.
Yoshihiko Noda, leader of Japan’s largest opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, said he plans to attack the Liberal Democratic Party over the scandal in the upcoming election.
“We cannot establish proper governance through pseudo-regime change,” Noda told public broadcaster NHK.
Despite its troubles, the party that ruled Japan for much of the post-war period is still likely to remain in power in the upcoming elections because Japan’s opposition is weak.
A Mainichi Shimbun poll conducted over the weekend showed that one-third of respondents supported the Liberal Democratic Party, while only 15% supported the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
More than half of respondents, including those who support the opposition party, expressed optimism about Ishiba’s appointment.
