Support for Japanese cabinet jumps after reshuffle

TOKYO, Aug 28 (Reuters) Support for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's new veterans-packed cabinet jumped sharply to about 40 per cent, according to a survey released today, although media warned the crisis for the Japanese leader was not over.

Abe, 52, whose ratings had been in tatters after his ruling camp suffered a disastrous election defeat last month, ditched most of his close allies and tapped experienced politicians for key posts in a reshuffle yesterday.

''It's an unexpected success,'' said Jun Iio, professor of government at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.

''People feel a sense of security with a return to the old LDP (Liberal Democratic Party), compared with the previous ministers.'' Kyodo news agency said support for the reshuffled cabinet was at 40.5 per cent, up 11.5 percentage points from its previous survey conducted shortly after the July 29 election, at which the opposition won a majority in parliament's upper house.

One media poll had put support for Abe's administration as low as 22 percent after the election.

Asked how he would ensure that the rise in popularity was more than a temporary blip, Abe told reporters: ''More than anything else, we must respond to the people's expectations''.

''To do this we must carry out policies.'' Respondents to the nationwide survey, conducted yesterday and today and the first since the cabinet reshuffle, hardly gave Abe a resounding vote of confidence.

About one third of those backing the cabinet cited the lack of a suitable alternative to Abe and only 2.2 per cent cited his leadership qualities.

''This cabinet is better than the first 'buddy-buddy' cabinet,'' said Ryuichi Tsuruta, 55, who works for a car sales firm in Tokyo.

''But Abe himself has no leadership ability.'' ADDRESSING PAIN Abe's reshuffled cabinet had received a lukewarm reception from media, reflecting doubts about his leadership capabilities, concern about the future direction of policies and the looming battle with the main opposition Democratic Party in parliament.

''Even with the personnel changes, there is no change to the fact that the Abe administration is in a crisis,'' the Mainichi newspaper said in an editorial today.

Abe faces a tough battle to enact legislation, including a bill to extend a naval mission to support US-led operations in Afghanistan, now that the opposition controls the upper house.

Abe's first cabinet -- which critics charged was packed with inexperienced allies -- lost four members to gaffes and scandals in a mere 11 months, including one who committed suicide.

Abe, who took office with an ambitious conservative agenda that includes revising the pacifist constitution, had come under fire for being out of touch with voters' pocket-book concerns.

In a news conference yesterday, the prime minister pledged to press ahead with economic reforms but also to address the pain of rural voters and others suffering from such policies.

The shift, which has raised concerns about a return to the pork-barrel spending of the past, reflects fears that LDP backers would shun the party in the next lower house general election.

An election for the lower house, where the ruling coalition holds a huge majority, need not be held until autumn 2009.

But some pundits say a deadlock in parliament could force a snap election, possibly even within the year.

REUTERS LPB PM1740