By KOHEI MORIOKA/ Staff Writer
November 4, 2024 at 17:13 JST
Former farm minister Taku Eto is expected to be reappointed to that post to replace Yasuhiro Kozato, who lost his seat in the Lower House election and announced his intention to resign.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Nov. 3 began making arrangements to name Eto, 64, the new minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries in the Cabinet, sources said.
Ishiba faces his own challenge when a special Diet session opens on Nov. 11 and lawmakers in both chambers will vote on who should be prime minister.
The ruling coalition of Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito lost its majority in the Oct. 27 Lower House election. Kozato was one of the election casualties of the coalition.
Eto was elected eight times to the Lower House from the Miyazaki No. 2 district. He became farm minister in 2019 during the second Shinzo Abe administration.
Ishiba is accelerating the process to select three replacement Cabinet ministers.
Justice Minister Hideki Makihara also lost his Lower House seat in the election.
And Tetsuo Saito is expected to become the new leader of Komeito. He will likely step down as land minister to focus on revitalizing the party.
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Former agriculture minister Taku Eto at his office in Hyuga, Miyazaki Prefecture, on Sept. 30 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
