Mr. Shigeru Ishiba becomes the 102nd Prime Minister of Japan

On October 1, the Japanese National Assembly held an extraordinary session and elected Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) President Shigeru Ishiba as the country's 102nd Prime Minister.

Earlier that morning, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet resigned en masse, paving the way for the Japanese Parliament to elect a new Prime Minister.

The results of the vote held at the plenary session of the House of Representatives that opened at 1:30 p.m. (Japan time) showed that Mr. Shigeru Ishiba received 291 out of 461 valid votes in the House of Representatives.

Thus, Mr. Ishiba officially became the 102nd Prime Minister of Japan, replacing Mr. Kishida, who has held this position since October 2021.

The result of the vote in the Japanese Diet was expected, as the LDP is currently the ruling party and the ruling coalition holds a majority in both houses. Prior to that, Mr. Ishiba reshuffled the LDP leadership and named new Cabinet members.

Regarding the key positions in the LDP leadership announced on September 30, former Prime Minister Taro Aso holds the position of the party's highest-ranking advisor; former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga holds the position of LDP Vice President.

In addition, General Council Chairman Hiroshi Moriyama was appointed as LDP Secretary General; Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki as General Council Chairman; former Defense Minister Onodera Itsunori as Chairman of the Policy Research Council and Shinjiro Koizumi as Chairman of the Election Strategy Committee.

According to the plan, after being elected Prime Minister, Mr. Ishiba will have a meeting with key figures in the ruling coalition, then establish the new Cabinet Headquarters at the Prime Minister's Office. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi will announce the list of Cabinet members.

In the expected list of 19 ministers of the new Cabinet, there are only 2 people from the old Cabinet of Prime Minister Kishida: Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi and Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Tetsuo Saito, who is from the Komeito Party - the LDP's partner in the ruling coalition. The rest are all new personnel with 13 people entering the Cabinet for the first time and 4 people who have held ministerial positions in the government of previous terms.

Among the four people who have held the position of Minister, there are two important positions: Minister of Defense and Minister of Foreign Affairs, held by Mr. Gen Nakatani and Mr. Takeshi Iwaya, respectively.

Mr. Katsunobu Kato, the candidate running for LDP President, was recently appointed Minister of Finance and Mr. Seiichiro Murakami became Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications.

The 13 new ministers joining the Cabinet is the highest number ever, including Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Yoji Muto; Minister of Justice Hideki Makihara; Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Yasuhiro Ozato; Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Takamaro Fukuoka...

The new cabinet also includes two female members: Minister in charge of child-related policies Junko Mihara and Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Toshiko Abe. This is one fewer female member than the Cabinet under Mr. Kishida.

Also on October 1, the Japanese House of Representatives decided on a schedule to dissolve the House of Representatives to hold an early general election (the 4-year term of the House of Representatives ends in October 2025).

The decision to dissolve the House of Representatives is expected to be made on October 9, the last day of the extraordinary National Assembly session, with the election list finalized and posted on October 15, and voting and counting on October 27.

Mr. Shigeru Ishiba was elected to the House of Representatives 12 times, and has held important positions such as Minister of Defense, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Regional Reconstruction and Secretary General of the LDP.

According to the schedule, after the Prime Minister's inauguration ceremony and the Cabinet recognition ceremony, scheduled to be held on the evening of October 1 at the Imperial Palace, Mr. Ishiba will attend a press conference to present basic domestic and foreign policies during his term.