Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said Saturday he will think about a cabinet reshuffle next year, but ruled out the possibility of a snap general election. "At this exact moment, I have no plans for a cabinet reshuffle," Fukuda told reporters here during his four-day trip in China.
"I'll think about it next year. Now I'll concentrate on the success of this tour in China," he said. Jiji Press and other Japanese media reported earlier that senior lawmakers of Fukuda's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) want the premier to rejig his cabinet in January to save the government from dwindling public support.
A poll last week put approval of the Fukuda cabinet at 31 percent, around the same level of his predecessor Shinzo Abe's government when he resigned. The fading public support comes in the wake of a health controversy involving infected blood and a bribery scandal at the defence ministry.
Asked about the possibility of calling a snap general election next year, Fukuda said, "It is unthinkable considering various policy agendas we face next year, such as legislation of the fiscal budget and a recent difficult trend in the economy due to troubles overseas."
"Also, on the problem of the pension system, it is my responsibility to recover public trust in the system," he said, referring to the mismanagement of pension payment which angered Japanese voters to vote against the ruling LDP in July elections in the upper house.
The government's handling of missing pension records is a sensitive issue in a rapidly ageing nation. "It's hard to think about an appropriate timing for calling snap general elections (for the powerful lower house)," he said, adding that preparation for the Group of Eight Summit Japan hosts next year is another challenge for the government.
The Fukuda government has most recently faced pressure from a group of hepatitis C patients who became infected through tainted blood. The group's female representatives have given tearful pleas before national television nearly every day, asking for compensation that would go beyond a court-brokered settlement package.
Fukuda came to power in September with solid public backing to replace Abe, who abruptly quit after a raft of scandals and an opposition refusal to renew a naval mission backing the US-led "war on terror" in Afghanistan.