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First Meeting of the State Ministers and Commemorative Photograph Session
Thursday, September 4, 2014
The State Ministers for the Reshuffled Second Abe Cabinet were determined during today’s Cabinet meeting.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the attestation ceremony at the Imperial Palace together with the newly appointed state ministers who assembled at the Prime Minister’s Office. The Prime Minister and the state ministers thereafter returned to the Prime Minister's Office and attended a commemorative photograph session. The Prime Minister then attended the first meeting of the state ministers.
The Prime Minister said during the meeting,
“I would like to offer some remarks to the meeting of the state ministers.
The Abe Cabinet has steadily implemented policies since being inaugurated as the ‘crisis breakthrough Cabinet’. We have made every effort to address various issues, such as the reconstruction after the Great East Japan Earthquake, revitalization of education, and reform of the social security system, among others. However, our reforms are still only half complete. It is also necessary for us to face new challenges and execute with greater boldness and tenacity such policies.
The mission of the next Abe Cabinet is to, of course, accelerate the reconstruction as well as prioritize the economy and deliver a sense of the economic recovery to every corner of Japan without fail. I have appointed the new state ministers today in order to further accelerate our efforts toward the many challenging issues our country faces, including vitalization of local economies, the creation of a society in which all women shine, a rebuilding of diplomacy and security policies, and disaster prevention, among others.
I would like each state minister to thoroughly fulfill their responsibilities so that you become a driving force behind the ‘Cabinet for action and achievement’ we are resolved to continue to meet the public mandate. As you collaborate with parliamentary secretaries, I ask that you make appropriate relationships of trust with your subordinates in the bureaucracy, create an environment in which each ministry and agency can exercise the power it holds as much as it needs to, support the ministers, and manage national politics.
I would like to conclude my address by stating my expectations for you to pour all of your strengths into the execution of your duties and to work as one to national politics for the people.”