Prime Minister and Liberal Democratic Party President Shinzo Abe plans to reshuffle his cabinet and LDP executives in the first half of September, following the results of the House of Councillors election.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, and Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso, two key cabinet members, are likely to stay on as ministers.
The Cabinet reshuffle is likely to be announced around September 10. The schedule may be pushed back to the middle of September or later, depending on such circumstances as negotiations for a new bilateral trade agreement between Japan and the U.S.
Suga and Aso have supported Abe since the launch of the second Abe administration in December 2012. The government and the LDP view is that "for the sake of political stability, Suga and Aso cannot be replaced."
Whether LDP Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai and Policy Research Council Chairman Fumio Kishida, who is seen as a potential successor to Abe, will continue as party executives is also a focus of attention. Abe is expected to carefully consider the lineup, eyeing Diet debates on constitutional revision.
The government plans to convene an extraordinary Diet session on August 1 to decide a successor for House of Councillors President Chuichi Date who will retire. The session is expected to end on August 5.
As well as a new president, there will also be changes among the LDP's executives in the upper house. An election to select the leader of the LDP's upper house caucus will take place on July 29. However, the race is expected to be challenging as Secretary General of the LDP caucus Hiromi Yoshida, who has been in charge of Diet affairs and party personnel affairs in the upper house, will retire at the end of the current term.
Abe will attend the Group of Seven major economies meeting in France in late August, after the extraordinary Diet session and his summer vacation. Abe is also likely to visit Vladivostok, Russia, for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in early September.
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