New Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba took office on Tuesday — but he will get no honeymoon period, as he looks to unite a divided Liberal Democratic Party in advance of an Oct. 27 general election amid internal strife over his Cabinet picks and party leadership appointees.
Ishiba unveiled his Cabinet the same day, after choosing senior party leaders a day earlier. The new leader selected those who were largely untainted by a party political funds scandal involving its once powerful factions that heavily damaged public trust in the LDP.
A number of Ishiba’s Cabinet picks included those close to former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and his successor, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, whose faction was the first of several to be dissolved in response to the scandal.
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