Friday, August 04, 2017, 15:00 - 16:00
The Prospects of PM Abe's Latest Cabinet Reshuffle
Language:The speech and Q & A will be in Japanese with English interpretation
Japan's Prime Minister is reportedly planning to reshuffle his Cabinet on August 3 in an attempt to re-launch a now rather tarnished administration that has, like the prime minister himself, suffered a plunge in popular support. Whether or not this planned reshuffle will enable Abe to escape the crisis he now faces is far from clear.
The FCCJ has invited one of Japan's veteran and most knowledgeable political analysts, Minoru Morita, to talk about the record of the "old" Abe Cabinet and whether the new Cabinet can hope to navigate through political scandals in which Abe and other members have been involved while also enabling Abe to achieve his cherished ambition to amend the Japanese Constitution. He will also examine whether the new Abe Cabinet can improve strained relations with China and the two Koreas.
Banned on occasions from TV broadcasts, and dubbed the "grand outsider" of Japanese political commentary, the 84 year old Morita has long been an active in critic of successive Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) regimes, and of Abe in particular. He sees the result of the recent Tokyo Metropolitan Government elections as the beginning of the end for Abe and calls on him to hold a general election. Cabinet reshuffles will not help him, Morita has suggested.
Please reserve in advance, 3211-3161 or on the website (still & TV cameras inclusive). Reservations and cancellations are not complete without confirmation.
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