Tokyo, 2 November, /AJMEDIA/
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday tapped Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi to take the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s No. 2 post of secretary general.
Kishida is set to relaunch his Cabinet after parliament convenes a special session on Nov. 10 and is expected to choose Motegi’s replacement as foreign minister by then. One candidate is former education minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Akira Amari assumed the role of LDP secretary general only a month ago but offered to resign following his shock defeat in a single-seat district in Sunday’s general election, marking an unprecedented humiliation for a sitting LDP secretary general.
Motegi, who has been foreign minister since September 2019, said Kishida tasked him with implementing LDP reforms and drawing up a stimulus package to prop up the coronavirus-hit economy.
“I think it’s important that I make sure we can honor the trust invested in us by the people,” the 66-year-old told reporters after meeting with the prime minister at the LDP’s headquarters in Tokyo and accepting the appointment.
The LDP will make the appointment official at a General Council meeting on Thursday, after Kishida returns from a U.N. conference on climate change in Glasgow, Scotland.
