 A cabinet lineup focusing on adverse revision of the Constitution Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro's appointment of top Liberal Democratic Party officials and the reshuffled cabinet embraces key LDP members who are enthusiastic about changing the Constitution, in particular the war-renouncing Article 9. Takebe Tutomul, the new LDP secretary general, was an aide to Yamasaki Taku, former LDP vice president who proposed drafting a constitutional revision in 2005. Yosano Kaoru, the new LDP Policy Council chair, is an advisor to the LDP Constitution Research Council. An LDP panel he chaired proposed including in the party platform calls for the revision of the Constitution and the Fundamental Law of Education. Abe Shinzo, former LDP secretary general who proclaimed himself as an "advocate of constitutional change" in a speech he gave in the United States last April, remains in the top LDP leadership as acting LDP secretary general. Newly appointed cabinet members include the following politicians who are members of the Parliamentarians Promoting Research of the Constitution, a group made up of Dietmembers from the Liberal Democratic, Komei, and Democratic parties. - Otsuji Hidehisa (Health, Labor, Welfare minister) - Aso Taro (Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications minister) - Koike Yuriko (Environment minister) - Ono Yoshinori (Defense Agency director general) - Murata Yoshitaka (National Public Safety Commission chairman) - Shimamura Yoshinobu (Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries minister) - Murakami Seiichiro (Administrative Reform minister) - Tanahashi Yasufumi (Science and Technology Policy minister) - Ito Tatsuya (Minister for State for Financial Services) - Nakayama Nariaki (Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology minister). (end) |