ID :
166594
Tue, 03/08/2011 - 18:28
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/166594
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Matsumoto to be Japan's new foreign minister
TOKYO, March 9 Kyodo - UPDATE2(EDS: ADDING DETAILS)Prime Minister Naoto Kan decided Tuesday to promote State Foreign Secretary Takeaki Matsumoto to foreign minister following Seiji Maehara's resignation over a money scandal, sources close to the premier said.
Matsumoto accepted Kan's offer of the post Tuesday night, according to the sources. An attestation ceremony for the new minister is scheduled to take place Wednesday afternoon at the Imperial Palace.
Kan told reporters earlier in the evening that he would be ''not taking that long'' in selecting Maehara's successor.
Kan accelerated his efforts to pick Japan's new foreign minister as a two-day meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Eight nations will be held next Monday in Paris.
The resignation of Maehara, who had been foreign minister since September, was formalized Monday after he admitted to accepting political donations from a South Korean woman living in Kyoto whom he has known since his childhood.
Japan's Political Funds Control Law bans contributions from foreign individuals to prevent domestic politics from being influenced by foreign countries.
Matsumoto and former Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Masayuki Naoshima were two of the names that had been floated by ruling Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers as possible successors to Maehara.
If the appointment is formalized it will be the first time the 51-year-old Matsumoto has been a minister since he was first elected in 2000.
There were some opinions among DPJ lawmakers that it might be too early for Matsumoto to assume the post, given that he does not have a long political career as a parliamentarian.
Some people close to the administration were more in favor of having Naoshima in the post as he is known to be proactive toward a U.S.-backed regional free trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Kan has promised to decide whether to join the TPP talks by around June.
But the premier eventually decided to place more importance on the continuity of Japan's foreign policy by promoting Matsumoto, a fourth-term House of Representatives member who has been serving as a vice foreign minister since last September, some of the sources said.
In addition to the G-8 meeting, trilateral foreign ministerial talks with China and South Korea are slated for March 19 in Kyoto.
People close to Kan had also said the government should not rule out the possibility of having DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada serve again as foreign minister.
But Okada has told people close to him that ''the successor will not be me,'' a political source said.
Matsumoto has fairly close ties with former DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa, who has been critical of the way Kan has been running the government since June.
A former banker, Matsumoto is the great-great-grandson of Japan's first prime minister, Hirofumi Ito.
Matsumoto's father, Juro Matsumoto, was a member of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party in the lower house and served as Defense Agency chief.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano is currently doubling as foreign minister.
The G-8 countries are Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.
Matsumoto accepted Kan's offer of the post Tuesday night, according to the sources. An attestation ceremony for the new minister is scheduled to take place Wednesday afternoon at the Imperial Palace.
Kan told reporters earlier in the evening that he would be ''not taking that long'' in selecting Maehara's successor.
Kan accelerated his efforts to pick Japan's new foreign minister as a two-day meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Eight nations will be held next Monday in Paris.
The resignation of Maehara, who had been foreign minister since September, was formalized Monday after he admitted to accepting political donations from a South Korean woman living in Kyoto whom he has known since his childhood.
Japan's Political Funds Control Law bans contributions from foreign individuals to prevent domestic politics from being influenced by foreign countries.
Matsumoto and former Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Masayuki Naoshima were two of the names that had been floated by ruling Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers as possible successors to Maehara.
If the appointment is formalized it will be the first time the 51-year-old Matsumoto has been a minister since he was first elected in 2000.
There were some opinions among DPJ lawmakers that it might be too early for Matsumoto to assume the post, given that he does not have a long political career as a parliamentarian.
Some people close to the administration were more in favor of having Naoshima in the post as he is known to be proactive toward a U.S.-backed regional free trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Kan has promised to decide whether to join the TPP talks by around June.
But the premier eventually decided to place more importance on the continuity of Japan's foreign policy by promoting Matsumoto, a fourth-term House of Representatives member who has been serving as a vice foreign minister since last September, some of the sources said.
In addition to the G-8 meeting, trilateral foreign ministerial talks with China and South Korea are slated for March 19 in Kyoto.
People close to Kan had also said the government should not rule out the possibility of having DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada serve again as foreign minister.
But Okada has told people close to him that ''the successor will not be me,'' a political source said.
Matsumoto has fairly close ties with former DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa, who has been critical of the way Kan has been running the government since June.
A former banker, Matsumoto is the great-great-grandson of Japan's first prime minister, Hirofumi Ito.
Matsumoto's father, Juro Matsumoto, was a member of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party in the lower house and served as Defense Agency chief.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano is currently doubling as foreign minister.
The G-8 countries are Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.
