August 02, 2008	Saturday	Rajab 29, 1429

TOKYO, Aug 1: Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Friday named a new cabinet filled with heavyweights, vowing to jump-start a lacklustre economy in a last-ditch bid to revive waning public support.

Fukuda replaced 13 of his 17 ministers, mostly by tapping seasoned politicians, bluntly acknowledging that most people in Japan were feeling worse off than a year ago because of rising global oil and food prices.

The popularity of the 72-year-old centrist, once seen as a safe pair of hands, has plunged since he took over last September. Support is growing for the opposition, which says free-market reforms have hurt ordinary people.

“I have formed a cabinet so that the Japanese people can feel the fruits of the reforms,” Fukuda told a news conference, vowing to “push for policies so that people can feel their livelihoods are improved.” Fukuda brought his former rival Taro Aso back from the political wilderness as secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), a post key to preventing any internal revolt.

Fukuda also shook up his team steering the world’s second largest economy, including appointing Kaoru Yosano — who advocates a controversial tax hike to make up for ballooning debt — as his minister in charge of fiscal policy.

But he kept in place his top aide, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura, who heads the most powerful LDP faction.

Fukuda brushed off calls for snap general elections, which do not need to be held until September 2009. The opposition won control of one house of parliament last year and has repeatedly held up Fukuda’s agenda.

“I would like to ask the opposition party to think about whether confrontation just for the sake of making mischief is a good thing,” Fukuda said.

The opposition, however, accused Fukuda of lacking any clear policy direction.

“What voters want isn’t a change of ministers, but a change to policies that will safeguard people’s lives,” main opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa said.

“We are determined to change the government in upcoming elections.” Fukuda is known for moderate views within the conservative LDP, which has been in power for all but 10 months since its creation in 1955.

He has championed efforts to repair often strained relations with giant neighbour China, and is due to head next week to Beijing for the Olympics.

But public approval of Fukuda’s cabinet nosedived within months of taking over largely due to a backlash over a new medical plan that raises costs for many of the elderly.

Fukuda originally kept 15 of the 17 ministers appointed by his predecessor Shinzo Abe, who abruptly resigned due to stress and a string of scandals.

Analysts said the reshuffle showed that Fukuda was serious about trying to reverse course rather than immediately call a general election, which is not due until September next year.

“This conveys the message that Fukuda will stay in his job and try to win public support,” said Sadafumi Kawato, a professor of politics at Tohoku University.

Even a growing number of LDP members support holding early elections to get them over with, fearing that support for the party will keep falling with Fukuda in charge, he said.

However, the appointment of Aso as the LDP’s secretary general could send a signal that Fukuda is prepared to step down after the next election, analysts said.

Aso, a flamboyant conservative, has run for premier three times and has made little secret that he hopes to replace Fukuda if he falls.

Aso told reporters he accepted the job “to tide over what appears to be the biggest crisis since the party’s foundation.” Analysts said the reshuffle was also aimed at reassuring coalition partner New Komeito, Japan’s third largest party, to stay with the LDP.

New Komeito, which derives support through ties with a major Buddhist movement, gives the ruling coalition a two-thirds majority in the lower house that lets it override the opposition-led upper house.—AFP