Japanese New Cabinet to Boost Economy Momentum

image source: in.reuters.com

Japan has a cabinet reshuffle today (Sept, 3 2014). Japanese Prime Minister placed, Shinzo Abe has not revamped his cabinet since returning to office in December 2012. This was a record for a post-World War II premier. That means dozens of veterans in his male-dominated Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) are eager to be tapped for a post. This reshuffle is also expected to re-energize Japanese economic and security agenda after once stellar approval ratings began to wane.

Shinzo Abe is one of Japan's most polarizing prime ministers in decades. He may also have a chance at becoming that rarity in Japanese politics in a long-serving leader. Reported in Bloomberg.com, Shinzo Abe, an advocate of pro-market reforms in charge of the government pension fund. He is named as a rising female politician as industry minister because his effort to restore momentum to his “Abenomics” policies with this cabinet reshuffle.

Abe is known well as a leader that bring more women more chance to join in his ministry. When he reshuffles his cabinet, Abe is expected to co-opt a rival and draft more women to spruce up his image.  Abe appointed women to nearly a third of the posts in a revamped cabinet unveiled. But he kept key ministers in a reshuffle aimed at unifying his party and polishing his image. Several core members that retained their post including Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, Finance Minister Taro Aso, Economics Minister Akira Amari, and also Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida. Their retaining signals that their old policy will keep continue.

The new cabinet has to face a number of challenges. Abe must decide whether to go ahead with a planned rise in the sales tax to 10 percent from October 2015 after an initial hike sparked a big contraction. Moreover, his party also has to face several local polls.

Attention is also focused on the role of women in the new cabinet and LDP line-ups. Abe has made a push to get more women into the workforce a linchpin of his "Abenomics" growth plan, setting a target of raising the proportion of women corporate managers to 30 percent by 2020 from 7.5 percent last year.