On Sept. 22, the third Koizumi Cabinet was established. On the same day, the Liberal Democratic Party witnessed the birth of a new party leadership. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, re-elected to head the LDP for the second term with a handsome majority, is now well positioned to face a general election (expected to be held Nov. 9) with a renewed mandate.
The outcome of the LDP presidential election indicates that Koizumi will be remembered as the politician who ended Japan's factional politics (habatsu seiji). In particular, Koizumi has effectively brought down the Tanaka-Takeshita-Obuchi-Hashimoto faction that has dominated the Japanese politics since early 1970s.
Koizumi also sent a clear message once again that he would not select his Cabinet ministers based on the nominations from the leaders of factions. In the recently reshuffled Koizumi Cabinet, Shigeru Ishiba (Defense Agency chief) and Toshimitsu Motegi (minister in charge of Okinawa, Northern Territories, Science and Technology Policy) are the only two ministers from the Hashimoto faction -- unusually low representation of the biggest faction in the LDP. Despite heavy criticism within the LDP, Koizumi also decided to retain both Heizo Takenaka, his economic, fiscal and financial policy minister, and Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi. Finally, he picked Nobuteru Ishihara, who served as the minister in charge of administrative reform under the previous Koizumi Cabinet, to head the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.