Fukuda Approved As Japan Pm

Yasuo Fukuda was yesterday approved as Japan's prime minister and immediately pledged to improve his party's fortunes amid calls for an early general election.

Mr Fukuda, a former chief cabinet secretary from the moderate wing of the Liberal Democratic party (LDP), easily won the vote, held among lower house MPs, to replace Shinzo Abe, who announced his resignation on September 12. Mr Abe, who has spent almost two weeks in hospital with a stress-related illness, attended his final cabinet yesterday before he and his ministers resigned en masse.

Mr Fukuda, 71, acknowledged that his party's popularity had suffered after a year of scandals and gaffes involving cabinet ministers, and his predecessor's failure to address voters' concerns over the economy and pensions.

"The situation surrounding the LDP is very severe, and we will face difficulty in keeping the government under control unless we have the cooperation of all party members," he said.

He faces a bruising battle over plans to extend Japan's naval refueling mission in the Indian Ocean in support of US-led forces in Afghanistan. The Democratic party is threatening to block the extension in the upper house, where it became the largest single party in July.

The Democratic party leader, Ichiro Ozawa, repeated his call for an early general election. "The only thing to be done is to seek the will of the people," he told reporters.