Nov 27 06:02 AM US/EasternTOKYO, Nov. 27 (AP) - (Kyodo) — Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Tuesday ruled out the need to reshuffle the Cabinet, shrugging off calls from ruling party lawmakers who say such a move is necessary to prevent allegations about Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga from adversely impacting the government.
"If I say 'I will reshuffle,' it will cause a fuss. I don't feel any such need now," Fukuda, who took office in September, said when asked by reporters about the possibility of a Cabinet reshuffle.
Calls for a reshuffle have started to grow as Nukaga faces allegations of having had cozy ties with arrested defense equipment trader Motonobu Miyazaki and former Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya -- both at the center of a high-profile scandal involving the Defense Ministry.
The scandal has put the government and the ruling bloc in an awkward position at a time when they are seeking to have the Diet pass a bill to resume Japan's refueling mission in support of U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan.
The opposition parties, which control the House of Councillors, are against the refueling bill.
On Tuesday, Fukuda's ruling Liberal Democratic Party issued a report concluding that Nukaga was not present at a dinner party last December with Moriya and Miyazaki.
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