Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday dumped conservatives and embraced critical voices in a Cabinet revamp he hopes will stem a decline in public support after a series of scandals and missteps.
Abe, in office since December 2012, has pushed a nationalist agenda alongside a massive policy effort to end years of on-off deflation and rejuvenate the world’s third-largest economy.
However, he has seen public support rates plummet in the past few months over an array of political troubles, including allegations of favoritism to a friend in a business deal, which Abe denies.
Photo: Bloomberg
Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) suffered a drubbing in local Tokyo elections last month, which analysts and newspapers blamed on an increasing “arrogance” on the part of the prime minister and his government.
“I would like to express deep regret and apologize to the public” for creating mistrust due to various scandals, Abe said at a televised news conference, bowing for several seconds.
Abe, dressed in formal attire after attending a ceremony with his ministers at the Imperial Palace, said he carried out the Cabinet changes to restore public confidence in his government.
“We will listen to the voices of the people and pursue politics together with them,” Abe said.
He reappointed former Japanese minister of defense Itsunori Onodera after Tomomi Inada resigned from the post last week following a scandal at the ministry over the handling of documents.
Onodera, 57, held the post for nearly two years until September 2014, and has vowed to restore unity and confidence within the ministry.
His appointment came amid rising tensions surrounding North Korea’s missile development.
Pyongyang launched its latest missile late on Friday last week.
“It’s the government’s biggest responsibility to do our best to ensure the safety of the public against this serious and real threat,” Abe said.
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
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FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
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