Japanese PM Fumio Kishida Replaces Japan's Defense Minister Due To Health Conditions

New cabinet ministers appointed by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on their way for a photo session at the Prime Minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, (photo: doc. between)

JAKARTA - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will replace Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi in consideration of his health condition in a reshuffle of the party leadership cabinet on Wednesday, August 3, the Yomiuri Daily reported on Saturday, August 6. Kishida accelerated the reshuffle, originally scheduled for early September, after a ceremony The main memorial to former prime minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot dead last month. The accelerated cabinet reshuffle is aimed at strengthening leadership after the domestic COVID-19 resurgence and Taiwan's increasingly precarious situation, the paper said, quoted by Antara.

The reshuffle comes after Kishida's conservative coalition government increased its majority of seats in the upper house of parliament in July elections held two days after Abe's death. Kishi, 63, the late Abe's younger brother, has served as defense minister since September 2020. Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Chief Cabinet Secretariat Hirokazu Matsuno in the Cabinet, as well as ruling Liberal Democratic Party Vice President Taro Aso and Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi are likely to be retained in their positions, the Yomiuri also reported.