Struggling Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda probably bought himself some time with a revamp of his cabinet and ruling party top posts, but the 72-year-old leader faces the same divided parliament and conflicting policy priorities that plagued his first 10 months in office. Fukuda, 72, tapped rival Taro Aso, an outspoken former foreign minister, for a top ruling party post and reshuffled his cabinet last Friday to appeal to voters who have been unimpressed with his performance so far, and are increasingly worried about rising prices, a slowing economy and a creaky pension system. Weekend opinion polls turned in varied results for the new leadership lineup, ranging from an unchanged 24 % support rate in a survey by the liberal Asahi newspaper, to a jump to 41 % in a poll by the conservative Yomiuri newspaper. Analysts said the showing was good enough to keep Fukuda, a moderate conservative who favours closer ties with China, in office for a while. But they said it was hard to say for how long, or to be optimistic about progress on key policies. ?If the cabinet reshuffle had been a failure, Fukuda would have had to resign,? said Jun Iio, a professor of government at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. ?He?ll probably stay in office for a while. But we still don?t know if he will be the one to call a general election.? No election for parliament?s powerful lower house need be held until September 2009, but speculation persists that Fukuda or his successor might call an earlier snap election to try to break the deadlock born of a divided parliament, where the opposition controls the upper chamber and can stall bills.

The ruling bloc faces pressure to woo voters with economic steps ahead of the general election but with a huge public debt, fiscal options are limited, economists said.