NEW JAPANESE PM TAPS KATO AS CHIEF CABINET MINISTER

Health minister Katsunobu Kato said Tuesday he has been asked by incoming Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to be his chief Cabinet secretary, while sources familiar with the matter said those in key ministerial posts will be retained, Kyodo news agency reported late on September 15, 2020. 

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Finance Minister Taro Aso are among those who will keep their jobs when Suga forms a Cabinet on Wednesday to carry out his policies focusing on fighting the coronavirus pandemic while shoring up the economy, the sources said. 

Suga, who was picked to succeed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Monday, is set to be named premier in an extraordinary Diet session on Wednesday. He beat two rivals with an overwhelming majority, supported by five intraparty factions including one helmed by Aso. 

Economic and fiscal policy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who has headed the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic, will be retained, as will industry minister Hiroshi Kajiyama and education minister Koichi Hagiuda, according to the sources. Land minister Kazuyoshi Akaba, who belongs to the LDP's junior coalition partner Komeito, and Olympics and Paralympics minister Seiko Hashimoto will also keep their posts, the sources said. Defense Minister Taro Kono will trade his portfolio for minister in charge of administrative reform, one of Suga's top priorities. He had previously been under consideration for minister of internal affairs and communications, a post that will be taken up by Ryota Takeda, chairman of the National Public Safety Commission.

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