Overview

• Taro Aso is set to serve as LDP vice president and Shunichi Suzuki has been picked as secretary‑general, according to party sources and fresh reports.
• Koichi Hagiuda is expected to return as acting secretary‑general, with Haruko Arimura lined up for General Council chair and Hiroshi Kajiyama for Diet Affairs chief.
• Figures from the former Motegi faction are poised to gain prominent roles, including plans to name former defense minister Minoru Kihara as chief cabinet secretary.
• Opposition parties condemn the consideration of appointments for lawmakers tied to the party’s slush‑fund scandal, as Takaichi’s team argues past penalties and elections resolved accountability.
• Rival parties recalibrate tactics, with the Democratic Party for the People pressing cooperation on concrete inflation measures such as raising the income tax threshold and ending the provisional gasoline tax, while Ishin expresses surprise and the Constitutional Democrats hold back for now.