Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday he will reshuffle his Cabinet and key Liberal Democratic Party posts in early August, following a historic defeat in the Tokyo assembly election and several missteps by his ministers.
But Abe, speaking to reporters during a visit to Sweden, signaled that he would retain his core ministers when asked whether such trusted hands as Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and Finance Minister Taro Aso, the deputy prime minister, would keep their posts.
The framework of the government should "not be changed over and over again," Abe told reporters, adding that he wants to "actively promote" talent to the Cabinet and the party's key posts to steadily steer the country and carry out reforms.