TOKYO (AFP) — Japan's beleaguered Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is preparing to reshuffle his cabinet, a senior official said Wednesday, as media speculated the move would come as early as next week.
Bunmei Ibuki, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Fukuda would discuss a reshuffle once his trade and farm ministers return Thursday from failed global trade talks in Geneva.
"The prime minister said he will consult with the party after seeing the two ministers who will come back tomorrow," Ibuki told reporters after meeting with Fukuda. "So I told him that the party will be waiting for it."
Fukuda himself, however, was enigmatic when reporters asked him about any plans to reshuffle his cabinet.
"I think it is important that we act responsibly considering the efforts" of the ministers, Fukuda said. "I will consider those matters as I carry out my business."
When a reporter pressed him to give a clear answer, he walked away with a smile, only saying, "Easy, easy."
Japanese media widely expect Fukuda to reshuffle his cabinet, which he left almost intact when he took over in September from Shinzo Abe, who abruptly resigned several months after a major election defeat.
The Fukuda government's approval ratings have nose-dived since taking office, largely due to a wildly unpopular new medical plan that raises costs for many elderly people in the rapidly ageing country.
Speculation has grown that a reshuffle is imminent after Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura abruptly cancelled a visit to India and other countries scheduled to start on Friday.
"The reshuffling will probably be complete by about the 10th," the best-selling Yomiuri Shimbun daily quoted a senior ruling party official as saying late Tuesday. "It will be a major reshuffle."
Fukuda, a 72-year-old political veteran, has resisted calls from the opposition to dissolve parliament to call a general election, which does not need to take place until September next year.
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