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Japan’s Fukuda shuffles Cabinet

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda picked a new Cabinet yesterday that was a mix of old-guard legislators and reappointments to restore confidence in his leadership amid flagging public popularity.

In an unusual move, he appointed two women, former telecommunications minister Seiko Noda, relatively popular as a consumers’ advocate, and Kyoko Nakayama, a key figure in trying to win back Japanese kidnapped by North Korea decades ago.

The Cabinet reshuffle has been viewed as an attempt by Fukuda to win back public support following scandals over missing pension records and alleged bribery in his bureaucracy.

The picks appear to show that he has tried to balance the need to please senior lawmakers to maintain his party leadership with the need to satisfy the public with fresh faces.

Political analyst Eiken Itagaki said Fukuda was trying to play it safe.

“The Cabinet looks like more of the same. But he wanted to strengthen his position in his party to stay on,” he said in a telephone interview.

Many of the faces chosen were the same, including Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura, Health Minister Yoichi Masuzoe and Nobutaka Machimura, the chief government spokesman.

Machimura denied the Cabinet shake-up was a publicity stunt.

“We are not here for the sake of raising our support rating,” he said. “We are facing a number of pressing issues, such as price hikes, soaring oil prices and risks of an economic slowdown.’’

Earlier in the day, Fukuda also picked old-guard legislators for the top positions in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, including former foreign minister Taro Aso as secretary-general.
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