Japan parliament session to be extended - report

TOKYO, June 16 (Reuters) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and top ruling party officials have agreed on a plan to extend the current session of parliament, a move that would delay a looming election, the Nikkei business daily said today.

An opinion poll a day earlier showed Abe's support rate has fallen below 30 per cent for the first time since he took office, further dimming chances of victory in the election, and extending parliament could buy time for voter outrage over mismanaged pensions and concern about corruption to fade.

This year's upper house election was expected on July 22, but some members of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) want to delay the poll.

According to the Nikkei, Abe met with LDP leaders yesterday night and agreed on a proposal that could extend parliament for 12 days from June 23, the scheduled end of the current session - a decision that would push the election to July 29.

But the extension might be shortened depending on progress next week in debate on key legislation, especially a law aimed at cutting the cosy ties between bureaucrats and business that lead to corruption.

Officials at LDP headquarters were not available for comment.

Jiji news agency said a survey it conducted between June 8-11 found support for Abe's cabinet had fallen to 28.8 per cent, down 10.6 points from the previous month, while 48.4 per cent of respondents did not back his government.

It is the first time a Japanese prime minister's support rate has dropped below 30 per cent since April 2001, when gaffe-prone premier Yoshiro Mori saw his popularity slide below what some analysts consider a crisis level, Jiji said.

The LDP pressured Mori to resign and replaced him with Junichiro Koizumi in order to avoid a trouncing in an upper house election that year.

Abe would not automatically have to resign if his coalition lost the majority in the upper house. But a big loss would mean the ruling bloc would be unable to enact legislation, threatening political paralysis and prompting calls for Abe to resign or call a snap lower house election.

REUTERS JK BST1032