More than 10 months after Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda came to power, he has finally formed a Cabinet of his choosing. When he became prime minister in late September 2007, following the sudden resignation of his predecessor Shinzo Abe, he had to retain 15 of the 17 Cabinet members appointed by Mr. Abe because they had been in their Cabinet jobs for only a month. This time, Mr. Fukuda has changed 13 Cabinet members and three of the four top officials of the Liberal Democratic Party.
The large-scale reshuffle, in which faction leaders, veterans and experienced lawmakers have been picked for posts, points not only to Mr. Fukuda's desire to carry through his political agenda but also to his determination to lead his party to victory in the next Lower House election with the LDP's united backing.
The tenure of the Lower House members anyhow ends in about a year. The reshuffle shows his desire to exercise his prerogative to dissolve the Lower House. If he had not carried out the reshuffle, Mr. Fukuda, whose administration has suffered from low approval ratings, could have faced maneuvers from within his party to remove him.