Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised yesterday to keep his current Cabinet despite wide-spread predictions of a reshuffle, as he struggles to overturn his sagging popularity ahead of national elections.
He also softened his push for a national referendum bill as part of a move towards revising the Pacifist Constitution, one of the core projects of his administration.
Since taking office in September, Abe has focused on long-term issues, such as North Korean policies, regional security, the constitutional amendment and educational reform.
In a televised interview with national network Japan Broadcasting Corp (NHK) aired yesterday, Abe once again criticized North Korea over the kidnapping of Japanese nationals and its nuclear and missile crisis.
However, opinion polls have shown that Japanese voters are more interested in economic measures and rebuilding the ill-managed public pension system.
The Abe Cabinet has seen its popularity plummet in recent months in part due to a series of domestic scandals involving ministers, with Abe seen as having a weak control over his party.
"I have absolutely no plan [to reshuffle the Cabinet]. I want to go into the elections with the current Cabinet," he said, referring to the upper house elections to be held in the summer.
"I don't want to worry over near-sighted things. I want to keep my strong determination to attain long-term goals," Abe said.
"When you have high public support rates, you worry that the numbers might fall. When they are low, you are lured into grandeur projects," he said.
Abe emphasized that the Japanese economy has steadily improved and characterized his policies as "Chinese medicine," saying their benefits are kicking in at a slow and gradual pace, but should last for a long time.
He had earlier said the Diet should approve the national referendum legislation by the May 3 national holiday, which commemorates the current post-war Pacifist Constitution.
But he toned down his remark by saying the approval of the bill by the national holiday would be merely "symbolic", adding: "I am not obsessed with it [the timing]."
The softening of his stance is an apparent concession to the ruling party's junior coalition partner, the New Komeito party, which has been cautious about amending the Constitution.
The Constitution bars Japan from using or even threatening to use force, although the country skirts the rule by calling its troops "Self-Defense Forces."
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