Word: ldp
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...year of setbacks for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Since the elections of last September, he has lost four cabinet ministers to political scandals; control of the upper house of parliament; and 40 approval rating percentage points. Now, in an attempt to right his ailing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and prepare for a tumultuous fall Diet session, Abe has reshuffled his cabinet, bringing in a host of veteran politicians to regain voter confidence...
...lineup is in sharp contrast to the so-called "buddy cabinet" of almost a year ago, made up of Abe's friends and largely first-time ministers. With key positions such as the cabinet speaker and foreign affairs minister now filled by LDP veterans who control powerful factions within the party, Abe's new cabinet is more reminiscent of days when appointments were handed out to political factions to curry favor and support - and is a sign that the embattled Prime Minister now needs all the help...
...part of the shuffle, Abe's close ally, former foreign minister Taro Aso, now becomes party secretary general; his place is taken by legislator Nobutaka Machimura, the head of the LDP's biggest faction. Civilian appointee Hiroya Masuda, a former prefectural governor and regional reformer, becomes Abe's interior minister in charge of addressing the concerns rural voters left out of Japan's urban-centered economic recovery. Popular LDP member of parliament Yoichi Masuzoe, a vocal critic of Abe's, will become minister of health, labor and welfare. It's an important but uncoveted position: Masuzoe must untangle the mishandling...
...remarked that the dropping of the Nagasaki bomb "couldn't be helped" and an agricultural minister whose suspected involvement in financial scandals led him to commit suicide. In making his goal of amending Japan's pacifist constitution to allow a more robust foreign policy the cornerstone of the LDP's July election campaign, Abe ignored voter concerns over bread-and-butter issues at his peril. To placate the calls for his own resignation after the historic loss that followed, Abe sacked his replacement agricultural minister over yet another financial scandal and promised a cabinet reshuffle, only to have...
...Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has long pushed for greater participation by Japanese forces in the war on terror. After losing control of the Upper House in stunning fashion, Abe is under intense pressure to resign as Prime Minister, even from members of his own Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). By blocking the Japanese military from continuing in Iraq or the Afghanistan theater, Ozawa might deal a killing blow to Abe, or force his government to spend its dwindling political capital to keep the missions alive...