TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso was on the defensive again over another verbal gaffe today, six days before a general election widely expected to oust his conservative party from power.

“If you don’t have money, you’d better

not get married,” Aso said at a meeting

with students yesterday, according to Japanese media. “It seems rather difficult to me for someone without means to win people’s respect.” Aso, whose slips of the tongue and policy flip-flops have contributed to his sagging popularity since he took office a year ago, had been asked whether a lack of funds made it difficult for young people to start a family.

His latest remark was seen as too blunt at a time when Japan’s youth faces difficulty in finding steady jobs amid the economic downturn. “The expression was rather direct,” Aso’s right-hand man, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura, told a daily press briefing today. “But I think it reflected his feelings that he must go ahead with measures concerning young people’s employment.” Last month, Kawamura told his support group that Aso sometimes “may fall a bit short” in clearly expressing what he means. At that time, the premier was under fire for saying “elderly people have no talent other than working”.