Aso changes Cabinet lineup, but leaves top LDP officials in posts

TOKYO, July 1 Kyodo -
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso added two new faces to his Cabinet lineup
Wednesday, while abandoning a plan to reshuffle key posts in his ruling Liberal
Democratic Party, in a move that may raise questions about his leadership ahead
of a general election.
Speculation had been rife that Aso would reshuffle top officials in the LDP as
well as the Cabinet in a bid to give a fresh boost to the party, which could
well lose the forthcoming election.
But he apparently gave up switching the party portfolios due to strong
opposition from some LDP lawmakers, although he told reporters in the evening,
''I have not said myself that I would make personnel changes (in the LDP).''
Aso's apparent indecisiveness soon met with criticism from opposition lawmakers.
''He is always flip-flopping and cannot make a decision quickly. I believe
people have become aware that his administration is in a terminal condition,''
Yukio Hatoyama, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, told
reporters.
As for the new Cabinet faces, Aso named upper house lawmaker and former Defense
Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi as economic and fiscal policy minister, replacing
Kaoru Yosano, who will retain his other posts of finance minister and financial
services minister.
Acting LDP Secretary General Motoo Hayashi, lower house lawmaker, was tapped as
chief of the National Public Safety Commission, a post that had been
concurrently held by Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Tsutomu Sato.
''I believed that some day I had to fill the posts that the ministers have been
holding concurrently,'' Aso said.
''Now that the Cabinet has approved a plan for general spending in fiscal 2010
budget, I think I've taken a further step and ended the multiple roles (of
Yosano and Sato), which I think must have been difficult,'' he said.
Asked if he had thought of appointing Miyazaki Gov. Hideo Higashikokubaru to a
Cabinet post, Aso said, ''I have never thought of it.'' There was some
speculation Aso might give the comedian-turned-governor a Cabinet position.
Aso is believed to be considering dissolving the House of Representatives
immediately after the July 12 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election for a
general election in early August.
According to senior LDP lawmakers, the premier is eager to dissolve the Diet at
an early date. But some lawmakers suggest the LDP should pursue the case of a
political fund report falsification related to Hatoyama before dissolving the
Diet so soon.
Some Diet members have also talked about the possibility of holding an election
on Saturday, Aug. 8, instead of Aug. 9.
Voting in general elections usually takes place on a Sunday in Japan, but Aug.
9 is the anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city of Nagasaki and the
local government had asked Aso not to hold an election on the day.
On Wednesday evening, Aso reiterated that he would call an election ''at an
appropriate time'' before the terms of lower house members expire Sept. 10.
The newly appointed Hayashis, who are not related, will officially take office
after a confirmation ceremony scheduled for Thursday at the Imperial Palace.
Yosano assumed the post of finance minister in mid-February to succeed Shoichi
Nakagawa, one of Aso's closest allies, who was forced to resign after
apparently drunken behavior at a press conference after the Group of Seven
meeting in Rome.
Sato took up the post of internal affairs minister earlier this month as
another ally of Aso, Kunio Hatoyama, was effectively dismissed from the post
amid a row over the reappointment of the head of the government-owned Japan
Post Holdings Co.
Earlier in the day, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said those who hold
the LDP's key posts below party president ''have been fulfilling their roles.''
LDP Diet affairs chief Tadamori Oshima said in an LDP meeting Wednesday that he
had told Aso he should not cause confusion within the LDP over personnel
matters when everyone is working hard on key upcoming local polls -- the
Shizuoka gubernatorial election on Sunday and the Tokyo assembly election.
Former LDP Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe, who is calling for Aso to step
down, met with Oshima and demanded that Aso concentrate on Diet efforts.
The key LDP officials currently are Secretary General Hiroyuki Hosoda, Policy
Research Council Chairman Kosuke Hori, General Council Chairman Takashi
Sasagawa and Strategy Council Chairman Makoto Koga.
==Kyodo