Japan govt tries to quell rigged town meeting fuss

TOKYO, Nov 10 (Reuters) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government sought today to quell a growing fuss over revelations that officials had planted questions about his pet project of education reform at public ''town meetings''.

The news of the rigged gatherings comes at a delicate time for Abe, who wants to revise a law on the aims of education during the current session of parliament ending next month. The changes would put more stress on patriotism and discipline.

The government has admitted that officials planted questions expressing views that supported the proposed reforms at five out of eight such meetings on education reform held between December 2003 and last September.

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hakubun Shimomura told a news conference today that the incidents were regrettable and ''threatened the people's trust in town meetings''.

But he added, ''I do not think that these were town meetings in which the cabinet gave special instructions in an organised way.'' Abe held the key post of chief cabinet secretary before becoming prime minister in September.

Shimomura said no more meetings would be held while the government investigated all 174 of the gatherings held on various subjects since 2001, when they were launched by Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, as part of a campaign to explain policies and bring politics closer to the people.

The ''town meetings'' were typically attended by 300 to 400 members of the public as well as one or more cabinet ministers.

The maverick Koizumi sprang to power in 2001 on a wave of popular support for his reform agenda, and his persistent popularity helped him challenge his ruling party's old guard.

Education Minister Bunmei Ibuki said the fuss over the ''town meetings'' should not delay parliamentary debate on revising the 1947 education law, which has not been altered since it was drafted by US Occupation authorities after World War Two.

Ibuki rejected opposition calls to delay parliamentary debate on revising the education law.

''It was inappropriate that questions were written up and sent to people in advance,'' Ibuki told a parliamentary panel.

''But we can't just sit still until we do all the town meetings over again, not when parliamentary debate is at this stage,'' he said. The ruling camp wants the lower house to approve the bill next week to ensure passage before parliament ends.

Newspapers today carried detailed accounts of how officials gave selected participants draft questions to ask and told moderators where they were sitting.

''These were clearly acts that tried to manipulate public opinion,'' said an editorial in the Mainichi newspaper.

Education authorities have also come under fire recently for their handling of school bullying incidents after several students committed suicide, and for a scandal in which hundreds of schools let students skip required courses so they could focus on studying for highly competitive university entrance exams.

REUTERS BDP BD1005