Abe to reshuffle cabinet on Aug 27

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TOKYO, Aug 5 (AFP): Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to reshuffle his cabinet on August 27 to secure an extension of the navy's support mission for Afghanistan following last month's election defeat, reports said Sunday.
Abe will reshuffle the cabinet as soon as he returns from a trip to India, Indonesia and Malaysia, to extend a law allowing the navy to provide logistical support in the Indian Ocean to US-led troops in Afghanistan, the mass circulation Yomiuri Shimbun reported, citing unnamed government sources.
The liberal Asahi Shimbun reported a similar story.
Abe hopes to secure enough time in the next session of parliament to pass the bill as the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which now controls the upper house, is opposed to extending the Afghanistan-linked mission, the reports said.
But Abe's coalition still has the power to override the upper house and some analysts doubt the opposition would risk alienating the United States, Japan's main ally.
A day after the July 29 upper house election, Abe pledged to reshuffle his scandal-plagued cabinet, saying: "It is my responsibility to continue with my mission in building a new nation and pushing for reform."