An upcoming Cabinet reshuffle provides a test of whether the prime minister is ceding substantive policymaking authority to her LDP vice president.
Sanae Takaichi is approaching the decision point for her first Cabinet reshuffle as prime minister. One of the emerging narratives from the process is not simply who will stay and who will be out, but also who may be pulling the strings behind the scenes. Speculation has been brewing about the influence of Liberal Democratic Party Vice President Taro Aso, a former prime minister and longtime party heavyweight.
But this speculation may overemphasize Aso’s present power by conflating it with the influence he wielded when the LDP’s factions functioned as the party’s dominant political machines. The forthcoming reshuffle could offer an important test of that distinction.
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