Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (front C) and his cabinet members pose for photos at Abe's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 1, 2017. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who was reappointed as the nation's leader on Wednesday retained all of his ministers in his relaunched cabinet. (Xinhua/Ma Ping)
TOKYO, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who was reappointed as the nation's leader on Wednesday retained all of his ministers in his relaunched cabinet.
Abe's cabinet, launched after his reelection as prime minister in a special parliamentary session, saw all ministers retain their portfolios and follows the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) sweeping victory in the Oct. 22 lower house election.
The prime minister, in a bid to ensure the ruling LDP's political continuity going forward and on the back of its super-majority secured in the lower house election, notably kept his key allies in their posts.
These include Taro Aso who will continue to double as deputy prime minister and finance minister and Taro Kono whose role as foreign minister will remain unchanged.
Itsunori Onodera will continue as defense minister and the government's top spokesperson, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, has also seen his role unchanged.
With the exception of Keiichi Ishii, who was reappointed as environment minister, and is a member of the LDP's coalition Komeito party ally, Abe's cabinet all belong to the ruling LDP.
Abe last reshuffled his cabinet lineup on Aug. 3.
Before the special session, which will run through Dec. 9, convened Wednesday, Abe's cabinet resigned en masse, with his fourth cabinet since the premier retook the helm in 2012, to be sworn in at an attestation ceremony later in the day at the Imperial Palace.
Abe's continued tenure as the nation's premiere was guaranteed by a majority vote in the lower house which he secured on Wednesday, with the lower chamber having final authority on the matter as decreed by Japan's constitution.
As Abe's ruling coalition holds a majority in the upper house, the vote for Abe as prime minister in the upper chamber, which he also secured, was merely a formality.
The lower house earlier on Wednesday also reelected house Speaker Tadamori Oshima and selected Hirotaka Akamatsu, a member of the now main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), as vice speaker.
The LDP's overwhelming victory in the general election has raised the chances that Abe will run in the LDP leadership contest next September and upped the premier's chances of becoming the longest serving prime minister since World War II.
Abe who has now become Japan's 98th prime minister will hold talks with Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi later in the day and is scheduled to hold a press conference on Wednesday evening, party sources said.
Abe will move to swiftly ensure that Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso compiles a budget plan at his first cabinet meeting, they added.
The draft supplementary budget is likely to span provisions for child-care services, which are in dire shortage in Japan, as well as other pressing economic matters.
As part of Abe's campaign pledge and the LDP's fundamental party platform, Abe will likely, in the weeks and months ahead, push for parliamentary debate over the first-ever amendment to Japan's pacifist constitution, with the Japanese leader wanting the supreme charter to explicitly make reference to Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF).
Pro-reform forces in the Diet comprise the two-thirds majority in both houses of parliament necessary for an amendment to the constitution to be formally proposed.
Thereafter, the political and publicly divisive issue will need the majority backing in a national referendum.
