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Kyodo-Factionless Saitō To Replace Nishimura As Economy & Trade Minister​

JAPAN

Kyodo News reporting that former Justice Minster Ken Saitō has been lined up to replace the outgoing Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura. Saitō served as justice minister under PM Fumio Kishida from Nov 2022-Sep 2023, and prior to that as Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries minister under the late Shinzo Abe from Aug 2017-Oct 2018.

  • The selection of Saitō for the Economy and Trade post could be seen as an effort by Kishida to 'wipe the slate clean' on his government. Since the dissolution in 2021 of the nominally 'anti-faction' Suigetsukai under military hawk Shigeru Ishiba, Saitō has not sat as part of any official party faction.
  • The scandal that has engulfed the governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) surrounds the funding of party 'factions' (see 0948GMT bullet), with the ministers and Cabinet Secretary set to be replaced on 14 Dec all hailing from the Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai faction formerly linked to Abe.
  • Nippon.com reportsthat former Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi could come back to Cabinet in the senior position of chief cabinet secretary. Hayashi comes from the Kōchikai faction that was until recently led by Kishida.

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