Fukuda to reshuffle Cabinet in early August

July 31, 2008

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is set to reshuffle his Cabinet in early August, top ruling coalition officials said.

Fukuda, who took office in late September last year, is expected to shake up his Cabinet possibly on Aug. 4, according to sources close to him.

Photo: Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda answers questions from reporters about a Cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday.

He will make a decision after being briefed by Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Masatoshi Wakabayashi and Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Akira Amari after they return home Thursday evening from World Trade Organization ministerial talks. Fukuda will then meet with Akihiro Ota, the leader of the Komeito party, to notify him of the decision.

"It's necessary to draw a clear line," Fukuda told reporters at his office when asked whether he intends to reshuffle his Cabinet.

An aide to Fukuda said he interprets the prime minister's remarks as meaning that he has made up his mind to shake up his Cabinet. "He will carry out a reshuffle. He's already completed coordinating opinions (among top ruling coalition politicians)," the aide said on condition of anonymity.

The focus of the reshuffle, along with the appointments of the top four officials of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), is whether the new government can convince the public that it can cope with the growing uncertainty over the economic situation amid rising oil and food prices.

Another focal point is whether the reshuffle can prop up the approval rating for his Cabinet amid observations that Fukuda will dissolve the powerful House of Representatives for a snap general election in the near future.

Top coalition officials believe that Fukuda will carry out a reshuffle on Aug. 4 as Fukuda is scheduled to attend memorial services for atomic bomb victims in Hiroshima on Aug. 6 and Nagasaki on Aug. 9.

However, a top LDP politician expressed concern that a hasty reshuffle could adversely affect the Fukuda administration. "If the reshuffle is carried out hastily and it doesn't produce positive results, I wonder what will happen to the administration."

(Mainichi Japan) July 31, 2008