TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan’s Shinzo Abe was re-elected prime minister on Wednesday after his ruling bloc’s big election win last month and days ahead of a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump that is expected to be dominated by concerns over a volatile North Korea.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (C) stands as he is re-elected as prime minister while his party lawmakers clap their hands at the Lower House of Parliament in Tokyo, Japan, November 1, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
Abe, 63, took office in December 2012, promising to reboot the stale economy and bolster defense.
His Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition retained its two-thirds “super majority” in parliament’s lower house in the Oct. 22 election, reenergizing his push to revise the post-war, pacifist constitution.
Abe was expected to reappoint current cabinet ministers and tell them to compile an extra budget for the year to March 31, 2018 focusing on child care and boosting productivity.
In a telephone conversation on Monday, Abe and Trump agreed to work together on steps to counter Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile development.
Trump told Abe “he is looking forward to his visit to Japan, that Japan and America are 100 percent together and there is no room to doubt the Japan-U.S. alliance,” Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters.
The two leaders have developed a close personal relationship since Trump was elected, and plan to play golf together during Trump’s Nov. 5-7 visit to Japan.
Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told Parliament today that the suspect in the rape of a lady doctor at the Anuradhapura teaching hospital has been identified as an army deserter and he will be apprehended shortly.
Police have arrested the suspect connected to the sexual assault on a female doctor at the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital today morning in Galnewa.
The Dutch Public Prosecutor suspects two companies of paying bribes in the construction of hospitals in Sri Lanka, according to an investigation by FD, the Dutch financial newspaper.
The Minister of Power, Kumara Jayakody, stated that in the future, internationally funded projects, such as power projects, will only be carried out through government-to-government (G2G) agreements and competitive procurement.
The Government today tabled in the House the Report of the Commission to Inquiry into the Establishment and Maintenance of Unlawful Places of Detention and Torture Chambers in the Batalanda Housing Scheme.
Israel, a major player in the global diamond and jewellery trade, has invited Sri Lankan gem and jewellery businessmen and designers to collaborate with Israeli diamond traders.
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