A leading political commentator has predicted that the new Cabinet to be launched by Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori today will be short-lived, and that drastic political realignments are in the offing.
Takao Iwami, a political analyst and columnist who is a special adviser to the Mainichi Shimbun, said at the Foreign Press Center last week that he believes the new Cabinet will come to an end sometime after this month's Group of Eight summit and before the end of the year.
Mori will likely resign over a scandal, Iwami speculated.