Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is looking to appoint Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba to a newly created ministerial post for regional revitalization in his reshuffled Cabinet to be announced Wednesday, the Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported Thursday.
Abe¡¯s placement of the LDP¡¯s No. 2 man in next week¡¯s Cabinet and LDP executive reshuffle has been the subject of intense media debate after Ishiba indicated he would decline to take the post of state minister in charge of security-related legislation ¡ª a post the prime minister was widely believed to have wanted Ishiba to hold.
Mainstream media have reporeted that Abe had shown strong displeasure to his aides after Ishiba¡¯s apparent refusal to take the post. Ishiba is seen as a major contender in the next party leadership race.
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