The Latest: Japan PM reappoints his Cabinet after election
TOKYO — The Latest on Japan’s parliament re-electing Shinzo Abe as prime minister (all times local):
7:20 p.m.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, re-elected to the post in a lower house vote, has installed his Cabinet, reappointing the same ministers back to their posts before a snap election last month.
The Cabinet ministers were officially sworn in at a palace ceremony Wednesday.
The 63-year-old Abe dissolved the lower house in late September to force an election. His Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner retained a two-thirds majority in the house.
The victory boosts Abe’s chances for another term as LDP leader next September, potentially extending his premiership to 2021.
3:40 p.m.
Japan’s lower house of parliament has re-elected Shinzo Abe as prime minister after his party won a resounding victory in a snap election last month.
Abe easily won the race Wednesday with 312 votes in the 465-seat lower house. He is expected to reappoint the same ministers to his Cabinet later in the day.
The 63-year-old Abe dissolved the lower house in late September to force an election. Political analysts saw the move as an attempt to win a fresh public mandate and re-establish his hold on power after a plunge in his approval ratings last summer.
The Oct. 22 election victory boosted Abe’s chances of being re-elected as leader of his Liberal Democratic Party next September to a fresh three-year term. He has been prime minister since December 2012.
