Dramatic cabinet reshuffle in Japan

TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Friday named a new cabinet filled with heavyweights, vowing to jump-start a lacklustre economy in a last-ditch bid to revive waning public support.

Fukuda replaced 13 of his 17 ministers, mostly by tapping seasoned politicians, bluntly acknowledging that most people in Japan were feeling worse off than a year ago because of rising global oil and food prices.

The popularity of the 72-year-old centrist, once seen as a safe pair of hands, has plunged since he took over last September. Support is growing for the opposition, which says free-market reforms have hurt ordinary people.

“I have formed a cabinet so that the Japanese people can feel the fruits of the reforms,” Fukuda told a news conference, vowing to “push for policies so that people can feel their livelihoods are improved.”

Fukuda brought his former rival Taro Aso back from the political wilderness as Secretary-General of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), a post key to preventing any internal revolt.