Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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August 27, 2007

Japan's Abe Reshuffles Cabinet and Ruling Party Leadership
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=18FFD22:A6F02AD83191E160B19015ABDA9491849574F7DCC14957C0 Prime Minister Abe
chose veteran lawmakers who agree with his conservative, pro-American
agenda, in an attempt to restore public faith in his scandal-ridden
government Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has reshuffled both his
cabinet and the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party
following the party's disastrous defeat in parliamentary elections
last month. As Catherine Makino reports from Tokyo, Mr. Abe chose
veteran lawmakers who agree with his conservative, pro-American
agenda, in an attempt to restore public faith in his scandal-ridden
government.  





Former Foreign Minister Taro Aso One of the main changes was the
resignation of Foreign Minister Taro Aso, who is taking over as
secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party.

The party was jolted in July when it lost control of the upper house
of parliament for the first time since World War II.  The vote was
seen as a reaction to a series of missteps and scandals that have
plagued the Abe administration almost since he took power last
September.

Taro Aso, whose conservative views match those of Prime Minister Abe,
now ranks second in the party.  He said Monday that the July election
results were the LDP's most devastating defeat since the war, and he
says he will work hard to recover the public's confidence.

"The major job for our party, the Liberal Democratic Party, is to
restore the people's trust in the party and show firm measures to deal
with the people's concerns over the future," Aso said. 





Japan's newly appointed Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura, Tokyo
Monday, 27 Aug. 2007Mr. Abe appointed Nobutaka Machimura, who served
as foreign minister during a previous diplomatic crisis with China, to
replace Aso.

Masahiko Komura was named defense minister.  Like Mr. Abe, he has
taken a hard line toward North Korea, which kidnapped a number of
Japanese citizens during the Cold War.  Komura replaces Japan's first
female defense minister, Yuriko Koike, who took her job only months
ago.   The LDP continues to head the government despite July's defeat,
because it still controls the more powerful lower house of
parliament.  However, some LDP members have called on Mr. Abe to
resign, as a way of strengthening the party if elections were to be
called in the lowerhouse as well.

But Mr. Abe refuses to step down, and announced after July's losses
that he would reshuffle his cabinet instead. 

Pema Gyalpo, a political commentator and professor of law at Toin
University in Yokohama, does not believe the changes will restore the
public's faith in Mr. Abe or the party. 

"You see, they have not been able to recover from the shocking defeat
that they had faced, and they think that if there is an election
tomorrow they will face another humiliating defeat, and so therefore I
think they are in very bad shape and they are not prepared to face an
election immediately," Gyalpo said.

Mr. Abe has been criticized for filling ministerial posts with his
cronies when he became prime minister.  Three ministers have since
been forced to resign, and one committed suicide after being
implicated in a financial scandal.




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