MNI: Japan PM Abe Keeps Key Policymakers in Cabinet Positions

     TOKYO (MNI) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday decided to

reappoint key ministers in a cabinet reshuffle in order to maintain the

stability of the Abe administration.

     Finance Minister Taro Aso, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and

Economic Revitalization Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, all kept their posts.

     PM Abe, who won a third consecutive term as party leader at the Liberal

Democratic Party presidential election on Sep 20, appointed Health Minister

Katsunobu Kato as the head of the LDP's General Council, one of the three key

leadership posts in the ruling party.

     Abe will now prepare for the next upper house election, expected in summer

2019, by appointing longtime ally Akira Amari as the LDP's Election Strategy

Committee chair.

     LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai, who was one of the first to support

Abe in the leadership race, and policy research chief Fumio Kishida, both stayed

in position.

     The LDP currently holds 122 of the 242 seats in the Upper House, and 66 of

the party's seats will be elected.

     The prime minister needs his party and coalition partner Komeito in order

to keep their two-thirds majority in both the upper and lower houses so he can

initiate a motion to amend the constitution.

--MNI Tokyo Bureau; tel: +81 90-2175-0040; email: hiroshi.inoue@marketnews.com

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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