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Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is planning to announce a cabinet reshuffle with an eye toward leading the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) to victory in the lower house election later this year.
Noda, who was reelected DPJ president on Friday, met with DPJ Secretary-General Azuma Koshiishi on Friday night and again on Sunday to ask him to stay on and help formulate a new team to contest the elections.
"I would like to beef up our team so that we can shift the DPJ once again to make it a fighting force that can serve Japan," Noda said.
Noda is scheduled to leave Japan on Monday night to attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York. He said Saturday that he would like to have his new team in place before he goes.
"I think there are areas where we can strengthen the cabinet function," Noda said. "I can best do that by putting the right people into the right posts."
Japanese media reported Sunday that Policy Research Committee Chairman Seiji Maehara and acting Secretary-General Shinji Tarutoko are likely to be replaced.
Noda also called on his party to speed up preparations for national elections, saying: "At any rate, lower and upper house elections are coming in the not-so-distant future."
Noda has the power to dissolve the powerful lower house to call general polls any time before the chamber's four-year term ends next autumn.
The DPJ came to power in 2009 after five decades of almost unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party, but its once-radical agenda was largely jettisoned.
Noda is Japan's sixth prime minister in as many years.
© Japan Today/AFP
9 Comments
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yasukuni
Heads of departments must spend half their time planning "meet the new cabinet minister" and then "farewell the cabinet minister" meetings. Japan the country where everyone politician gets to be at least a cabinet minister once in their lives.
callmeB
So the revolving door continue. I honestly don't know who is in charge in Japan. Really I don't. Seems like my cleaning lady has a more stable job than your PM. Can you imagine how other nation's gov't and heads of state think of your PM and your gov't. Its like a ferris wheel while every 5 minute someone gets spin out. This really hurts your credibility and perception that you have a capable gov't. Why can't you people find someone capable, vote for him, and stick with him for at least a couple of years? Is that too much to ask. I've never heard of a head of state with less than 20% approval rating. That's disgusting.
smithinjapan
Waste of time and money. Shuffle the agricultural minister to finance, shuffle finance minister to health, etc. They're all going to be out of a job come November, when Noda is forced to throw an election.
shanabelle
Musical chairs!
saidani
So...this is an admission that the last two Cabinets were failures. What gives anyone any confidence that THIS time will be different. The hubris of politicians when faced with the results of their own ineptness and incompetence is stunning. Sadly, other parties offer nothing better.
Yubaru
Whether it is or not I doubt that is how he looks at it, however I personally prefer a politician that at least says they made a mistake and keeps trying to get it right vs one who just keeps blowing in your ear.
saidani
Yubaru Sep. 24, 2012 - 04:41AM JST
Hope springs eternal, I suppose, just like it has for 2 decades and counting. The revolving door of prime ministers during that span is exceeded only by the ever-hopeful Cabinet reshuffling. At what point does it occur to one that such political machinations don't work, either for the politicians or the public? Japan's elite political class is woeful and lacks anyone on the national scene with real character or leadership abilities, a growing trend amongst all developed nations. The average family will continue to suffer because of this.
That said, hope is a powerful tool for mediocre men in positions of power who haven't the ability to deal with reality.
NeoJamal
Ah the United Nations, created as the bane of Japan now a bane on Japanese fiscal policy with their enormous budget and its contribution demands