Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, center, attends a meeting of executives of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Sept. 5 along with Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi, left, and party Vice President Taro Aso. (Koichi Ueda)

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is laying the groundwork to reshuffle the executive lineup of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and his Cabinet as early as next week and is likely to retain two powerful faction leaders.

Sources said Kishida was moving toward keeping Toshimitsu Motegi in the important post of party secretary-general.

Motegi, 67, is head of the third largest LDP faction and considered one prominent contender to eventually succeed Kishida as party president and prime minister.

While Kishida intends to seek another term as LDP president when his current term ends next year, he also wants to keep Motegi from trying to oppose him.

Sources said the prime minister plans to meet with Motegi upon returning on Sept. 11 from his current trip to Asia to attend a number of international conferences to ascertain what his intentions are about next year’s party presidential election.

Sources have already said that Kishida intends to retain Taro Aso as party vice president. Aso, 82, a former prime minister, heads the second largest LDP faction.

When asked by reporters on Sept. 7 in Indonesia, where Kishida was attending ASEAN-related meetings, whether he would keep Motegi as secretary-general, the prime minister said, “I want to think about the personnel changes based on the concept of picking the best person for each job and also considering the calendar.”

Motegi and Aso met on Sept. 7 in Tokyo and likely exchanged views on the upcoming personnel changes.

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