Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Monday he will consider reshuffling the Cabinet and his party's leadership after the end of the special Diet session being arranged to start Sept. 21, with a view to promoting his potential successors to those posts.

Koizumi, in a press conference following his Liberal Democratic Party's landslide victory in Sunday's general election, urged the hopefuls, without naming them, to begin preparing themselves to be the next premier, again ruling out staying in office beyond September next year.

Koizumi plans to retain his current Cabinet lineup until the end of the session, during which the ruling bloc hopes to pass bills to privatize Japan Post in about two weeks.

Koizumi is believed to have judged that the current Cabinet will be better at handling parliamentary debate on the bills than a reshuffled Cabinet.

Koizumi is certain to be reelected as prime minister in the special Diet session to follow the election.

His party's overwhelming victory has prompted calls for extending his term as LDP president which expires next September and allow him to serve longer as premier despite his repeated denial.

''There are many aspirants to be (LDP) president and prime minister,'' Koizumi said. ''I want to give those people the opportunities to play an active role as much as possible.''

Koizumi also said he wants his successor to ''further advance the reform that the Koizumi Cabinet has promoted with passion.''

He reiterated that he wants to resubmit the postal bills -- the centerpiece of his policy agenda -- to the special Diet session and expressed hope that the session will run short.

Source: Agencies