Japanese Prime Minister and Liberal Democratic Party President Fumio Kishida conducted a cabinet reshuffle and a high-level personnel adjustment of the Liberal Democratic Party on the 10th. Of the 19 cabinet members, 9 entered the cabinet for the first time, 5 remained in office, and the other 5 entered the cabinet for the first time. Due to multiple factors, such as the decline in cabinet approval, the cabinet and party personnel changes that were originally scheduled for the first half of September were significantly advanced. According to Japanese media statistics, a total of 26 people in the new cabinet have had contact with the Unification Church.
On the 10th, Kishida Fumio and his cabinet members took a group photo at the mansion.
According to public opinion analysis, after the big victory in the Senate election, the LDP plans for a long-term rule, and completing the personnel adjustment as soon as possible can allow the new cabinet to prepare for the October parliamentary debate.
Kyodo News polls at the end of July showed that kishida cabinet support fell to 51 percent due to factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, rising prices and a "state funeral" for Abe, the lowest point since the cabinet was established last October. Kyodo News Agency conducted a national emergency telephone public opinion survey on the 10th and 11th in response to Kishida's cabinet reshuffle, and the support rate of Kishida's new cabinet was 54.1%, a slight increase of only 3.1 percentage points.
Regarding Kishida's response to rising prices, 67.4% of respondents were "not sure", much higher than 25.4% who "affirmed". At the same time, 42.7% of respondents were "unsure" of the government's RESPONSE to the COVID-19 pandemic. 41.6% of the respondents were "not positive" about the cabinet reshuffle and the personnel adjustment of the LDP's top level.
People are getting a fourth dose of covid-19.
Recently, japan has had more than 200,000 new confirmed cases of new coronavirus every day, exceeding 250,000 for the first time on the 10th. According to the World Health Organization, the number of new infections in Japan has been the highest in the world for three consecutive weeks. Due to the lack of crew, some lines of the Tokyo Metropolitan Bus were forced to reduce the frequency of trains from the 4th, which was the first time since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic.
According to data released by Japan's Imperial Database Corporation, the price of about 1,600 kinds of food in Japan rose in July. According to the survey results released on the 11th, due to the increase in raw material costs and the sharp depreciation of the yen, the prices of more than 10,000 kinds of food in Japan will be raised from August to December, and it is expected that nearly 20,000 kinds of food prices will rise throughout this year.
The July domestic corporate price index released by the Bank of Japan on the 10th rose by 8.6% over the same period last year. Businesses may not be able to afford higher procurement costs, which will further pass on prices to consumers.
Bank of Japan headquarters.
In addition to its poor response to the rapidly expanding COVID-19 pandemic and high prices, the decision to hold a "state funeral" for Abe also led to a sharp drop in Kishida's cabinet's approval rating. The survey showed that more than half of the opponents, or 56 percent, were opposed. Among those who expressed opposition, more than 80% did not support Kishida's cabinet.
The survey results also showed that 89.5% of respondents regarding the relationship between the Unified Church and LDP MPs believed that the LDP and its MPs were "inadequately explained". The relationship between LDP MPs such as cabinet members and the Unification Church is considered to be one of the important reasons for the decline in kishida's cabinet support. While insisting on holding a "state funeral" for Abe, Kishida hopes to save support by "filtering" the cabinet, but with little effect.
Nobuo Kishi was transferred to the position of Assistant Prime Minister's Assistant Officer in charge of security affairs.
Before the cabinet reshuffle, Abe's brother and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi reportedly admitted that he had received electoral support from the group; Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Nobusuke Suematsu admitted to letting the other party buy tickets for the fundraising banquet; Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Koichi Hagida admitted to speaking at related events. House Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda and former Defense Minister Tomomi Inada are both accused of speaking at events hosted by the group, and former Liberal Democratic Party And political poll leader Hirofumi Shimomura, who denied ever participating in the group's name change, was the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology when he accepted the name change in 2015.
Before the cabinet reshuffle, Kishida said that he would strictly examine the background of those who joined the cabinet. At a press conference held on the 10th, Kishida said: "The relationship has been strictly inspected and seriously corrected based on the results. ”
Daishiro Yamaji, Minister of Economic Renewal of Japan.
According to Kyodo News Agency' analysis, seven cabinet members who intersect with the unification church in Kishida's new cabinet have been replaced, but at least 5 remaining or new cabinet members have problems. Of the five, Daishiro Yamaji, who remained in charge of economic regeneration, confirmed that he "attended the activities of related organizations and spent membership fees"; Katsunobu Kato, Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare, paid a total of 30,000 yen in membership fees to related organizations in 2014 and 2016; Minoru Terada, minister of internal affairs, paid 20,000 yen in 2018 to relevant political groups; Akihiro Nishimura, minister of the environment, attended relevant meetings in 2019; and Naoki Okada, the minister of local creation, said that the constituency secretary attended the activities of related groups.
In addition, Foreign Minister Lin Fangzheng was interviewed by the media in 2012, which is considered to have deep ties with the Unification Church, and the dialogue between The Minister in Charge of Economic Security, Sanae Takashi, and others 20 years ago was published in a monthly magazine related to the Unity Church.
The "Daily News" reported on the 12th that the reorganized cabinet members included a total of 54 deputy ministers and administrative officials, of which at least 19 had contact with the unification of the church. With the addition of 7 cabinet ministers, there are 26 officials involved in the new cabinet.
Takashi Sanae
In a poll conducted by nihon Keizai Shimbun and TV Tokyo at the end of May, Kishida's cabinet's approval rating reached 66 percent, the highest level since taking office. With regard to policies that wanted the government to prioritize, the top priority at the time was "reviving the economy"; As for the reasons for supporting the Cabinet, "character is trustworthy" came first. After two months, the economy did not recover, but prices rose higher and higher; The relationship between cabinet members and the Unification Church put a question mark on the character of cabinet officials.