Abe to appoint cabinet

　　Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) President Shinzo Abe took steps toward forming his own cabinet yesterday, a day after the party won 294 seats in a landslide victory in the House of Representatives election.

　　The Democratic Party of Japan suffered a damaging blow Sunday, winning only 57 seats.

　　Abe is expected to form his second cabinet immediately upon being elected prime minister after elections in both houses at a special Diet session to be convened December 26.

　　Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) won 54 seats, while New Komeito garnered 31 seats.

　　The LDP and Komeito, coalition partners when the two parties were at the helm of government before the 2009 general election, are expected to basically agree Tuesday to form a coalition government again at a meeting between Abe and Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi, according to LDP sources.

　　Voter turnout for single-seat constituencies was 59.32 per cent, a post-World War II low.

　　Abe told reporters at the LDP headquarters yesterday morning he was not thinking about a lineup of ministers yet.

　　"As we were able to win more seats than we forecast, our responsibility is quite heavy. I'm not thinking about who I'll assign as ministers yet," Abe said.

　　Although the LDP and Komeito together do not have a majority of seats in the House of Councillors, they now have 325 seats in the lower house, more than the 320 seats they need to pass bills by voting them through a second time if they are voted down in the upper house.

　　Concerning his talks with Yamaguchi, Abe said, "I'd like to put the finishing touches on policy talks [toward forming a coalition government]."

　　After policy coordination by working-level officials, the two parties are expected to officially agree on the coalition within this week or early next week, party sources said.

　　Yesterday morning, senior LDP members discussed at the party headquarters how to steer the party and conduct its internal governance hereafter.

　　During the discussion, Abe reportedly told other members he would choose a new lineup of party executives next Tuesday.

　　Abe has already decided to retain LDP Secretary General Shigeru Ishiba, who contributed to the landslide victory of the party, in the post, according to sources close to him.

　　Abe is also thinking of appointing Prof. Koichi Hamada of Yale University as a special adviser to the cabinet for economic matters, the sources said.

　　He would advise Abe on measures to deal with deflation and hyper-appreciation of the yen, a subject Abe presently considers among the most important, according to the sources.

　　Abe is thinking of appointing Takaya Imai, director general for natural resources and energy policy at the Natural Resources and Energy Agency of the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry as an executive secretary to the prime minister for policy affairs.

　　Imai served as an executive secretary to the prime minister for clerical affairs in the first Abe Cabinet of 2006 to 2007.