Tokyo 10 August, Tokyo : Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday reshuffled his cabinet as well as the executive line-up of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) as the administration is facing a decline in public support. According to the roster, Foreign Minister Yoshimasahayashi and Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno remain in their positions in order to keep the continuity in the face of urgent diplomatic and economic issues, according to Xinhua news agency.
LDP Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi and the party’s Vice President Taro Aso also remained in their positions.
Former Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada succeeded Nobuo Kishi and took over the responsibility for the portfolio again.
The cabinet of the new government also has LDP policy director Sanae Takaichi as the economic security minister.
The PR chief of the party Taro Kono was appointed digitization minister.
Kishida named industry minister Koichi Hagiuda with the crucial job of LDP policy director, and handed the position of industry minister to Yasutoshi Nishimura, an former minister of economic revitalization who was in charge of the Covid-19 response of the government.
The Wednesday’s news came one week after a national Kyodo News survey revealed that the Kishida’s approval rating administration was at the lowest level since it took office in the month of October in 2021.
According to the survey released on August 1st, the approval of the cabinet fell to the lowest level ever recorded 51.0 percent, compared to an all-time peak of 63.2 per percent just a few weeks ago.
Of those surveyed, 53.3 per cent said they were against the state funeral of the former president Shinzo Abe, and 61.9 percent believed it was necessary to hold a parliamentary discussion regarding the funeral of the state.
The dramatic decline was triggered by the Kishida cabinet’s strongest support in the aftermath of the coalition party ruling winning in the House of Councillors election on July 10 and Abe’s demise following his fatal shooting during a speech on the campaign trail.
However, the decision of the government to hold a funeral in the state for Abe was met with strong critique from both the opposition as well as the public who claimed that there was no legal basis to hold funeral.
The country’s return of Covid-19 infections as well as the soaring prices for commodities that led to the rising cost of living have also led to a decline in Kishida cabinet’s support rates.
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