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The Yomiuri Shimbun Shigeru Ishiba, Liberal Democratic Party president, photographed on Saturday
Jiji Press
8:32 JST, September 30, 2024
Tokyo (Jiji Press)—Shigeru Ishiba, new leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is considering a plan to hold an election of the House of Representatives on Oct. 27, with the official campaign period starting on Oct. 15, informed sources said Sunday.
He is expected to clarify on Monday his policy about dissolving the lower chamber of the Diet, the country’s parliament, for a snap election, assuming that he will be elected prime minister by the Diet on Tuesday.
His plan of an early Lower House dissolution is likely to draw a backlash from opposition parties, which have been demanding full debates in the Diet.
Speaking on a television program Sunday, Ishiba said: “The prime minister will be replaced. We should seek the people’s judgment as soon as possible.”
After Ishiba forms his cabinet on Tuesday, he is expected to deliver his policy speech in both chambers of the Diet on Friday, which will be followed by questions from party representatives starting on Oct. 7.
People close to Ishiba said that if the Lower House election is to be held on Oct. 27, chances are high that the chamber will be dissolved on Oct. 9.
Instead of facing budget committee meetings, Ishiba is considering holding debates with party leaders, including Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, on Oct. 9.
Ishiba expressed his intention to attend a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations-related summit meetings to be held in Laos next month. Specifically, he is expected to participate in such meetings scheduled for Oct. 10-11.
As for the new LDP leadership team to be launched on Monday, Ishiba plans to appoint former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, 75, as party vice president and Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, 71, as chairman of the LDP General Council, according to the sources.
Former Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, 64, is expected to be picked as chairman of the LDP’s Policy Research Council and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Tetsushi Sakamoto, 73, as chief of the LDP’s Diet Affairs Committee.
Ishiba plans to assign LDP Vice President Taro Aso, 84, to the post of the party’s supreme adviser.
LDP General Council Chairman Hiroshi Moriyama, 79, is slated to become the ruling party’s secretary-general, and Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, 43, is planned to be named new chairman of the LDP’s Election Strategy Committee.
As for his cabinet, Ishiba plans to appoint former Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato, 68, as finance minister, former Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, 66, as defense minister and former Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya, 67, as foreign minister.
Ishiba is expected to name Hideki Makihara, 53, a Lower House lawmaker, as justice minister, former administrative reform minister Seiichiro Murakami, 72, as minister of internal affairs and communications, Yoji Muto, 68, a Lower House lawmaker, as minister of economy, trade and industry, and Yasuhiro Ozato, 66, special adviser to the prime minister, as minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
LDP Deputy Secretary-General Minoru Kiuchi, 59, is expected to be named economic security minister and Keiichiro Asao, 60, head of the steering committee of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber, is likely to become environment minister.
Ishiba plans to appoint Yoshitaka Ito, 75, a Lower House lawmaker, as regional revitalization minister, Junko Mihara, 60, an Upper House lawmaker, as minister for policies related to children, and Tadahiko Ito, 60, a Lower House lawmaker, as reconstruction minister.
Takamaro Fukuoka, 51, chairman of the LDP Policy Board in the Upper House, is likely to be named minister of health, labor and welfare. State minister of education Toshiko Abe, 65, is expected to become education minister. State Minister of Finance Ryosei Akazawa, 63, is seen to be appointed as economic revitalization minister.
Likely to be retained in their current posts are Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, 63, and Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Tetsuo Saito, 72, a lawmaker of Komeito, the junior coalition partner of the LDP.
