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Fukuda revamps Cabinet, party

SINGAPORE: Japan’s Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Friday reorganised his 10-month-old Cabinet and also gave the main ruling party a new look. The reshuffle, announced in Tokyo, is seen as a bid to shore up the fortunes of his beleaguered coalition government.

The changes covered key economic portfolios, even as Mr. Fukuda retained Masahiko Koumura as Foreign Minister and Nobutaka Machimura as the powerful Chief Cabinet Secretary.

Only four of the 17 Ministers were retained. In what was seen as a facelift for his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Mr. Fukuda chose his competitor Taro Aso as the Secretary-General. The political assets of Mr. Aso are reckoned to a high popularity quotient and a known political lineage. The most conspicuous Cabinet appointments were those of Bunmei Ibuki, a former secretary-general of LDP, as Finance Minister, and Toshihiro Nikai, another “party heavyweight,” as the Economy, Trade and Industry Minister.

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