Japan Press Weekly

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2019 September 11 - 17 TOP3 [POLITICS]

Rightwing parliamentarians’ group members make up majority of Abe’s new Cabinet

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo on September 11 reshuffled his Cabinet. Its new makeup clearly reflects Abe’s determination to adversely revise the Constitution, as shown in the fact that 12 of the 20 Cabinet ministers, including Abe himself, are executives of a parliamentarians’ group closely connected with the major rightist organization Nippon Kaigi (Japan Conference).

On the same day, Abe also reorganized the leadership of his Liberal Democratic Party and appointed members of the rightist parliamentary group to key positions.

The parliamentarians’ group in question has been publicly justifying Japan’s past war of aggression and its colonial rule over Asian countries even under the current situation in which Japan-South Korea relations are at their worst.

After releasing the list of new Cabinet members, PM Abe held a press conference and said, “I will strive for the amendment of the Constitution. This is what the LDP has called for since its foundation. I will achieve it regardless of how difficult it may be.” He expressed his intent to initiate discussions at the Constitution Commissions of both Houses in order to constitutionally legitimize the Self-Defense Forces.

Commenting on the formation of the fourth re-reshuffled Abe Cabinet, Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira on the same day at a press conference at the JCP head office said that the latest Abe Cabinet is aimed at realizing constitutional amendment. He stressed that the JCP will squarely confront the Abe government through Diet deliberations and work hard to force PM Abe out of power.

Koike criticized Nikai Toshihiro, who was reappointed as LDP secretary general on the day, for saying that the LDP will make its utmost efforts to change the Constitution. Noting that the LDP and other pro-constitutional revision forces lost their two-thirds majority in the Upper House as a result of the July election, Koike said that this means that the general public does not want the Constitution to be amended in haste. He stressed that Abe and the LDP should not push forward with their agenda for constitutional amendment in defiance of the public will.