Japan parties clash as PM's support sags

Tokyo, June 29: Japan's ruling and opposition camps headed for a clash in parliament today as Prime Minister Abe sought to push through bills that he hopes will revive his popularity ahead of an upper house election just a month away.

Abe is struggling to cool voter anger over the bungling of pension records that may be short-changing retirees and concerns about political corruption. But time is running out before the July 29 vote, which could affect whether he gets to keep his job.

In the latest poll to confirm Abe's sagging popularity, a June 26-28 survey by the Yomiuri newspaper showed 34.4 per cent of respondents backed his cabinet compared to 51.8 per cent who did not. That was little changed from a poll carried out on June 5-7.

More voters intended to vote for the main opposition Democratic Party than for Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the upper house poll, the survey showed.

Asked which party they would back in a nationwide proportional representation constituency, about 22 per cent selected the Democrats against 21 per cent for the LDP, while in prefectural districts, 24 per cent opted for the opposition party against 22 per cent for the LDP, the newspaper said.

Abe has already postponed the upper house election by a week in an effort to enact key bills and give voters time to cool off.

Opposition On Offensive

Today, the LDP and its junior coalition partner, the Buddhist-backed New Komeito, were set to push through four bills.

These bills deal with the pension fiasco, tighten controls on political funds, and reform the civil service system by revising the system of ''amakudari'', or ''descent from heaven'', in which former bureaucrats take cushy jobs at firms they once supervised.

The ''amakudari'' system has long been viewed as a hotbed of corruption, but critics say the proposed reforms will do little to fix the problem.

The ruling coalition is pushing to get the bills through now even though the parliament session does not end until July 5. Analysts said this is because it wants some leeway in case the opposition uses stalling tactics drag out the procees.

Keen to press their attack, the Democrats and other opposition parties are likely to submit a no-confidence motion against Abe's cabinet in the lower house and non-binding censure motions against Abe and his health minister in the upper house.

None of the motions are expected to pass given the ruling camp's majority in both chambers, but the opposition hopes the clash in parliament will help keep public anger alive and boost their support at the polls.

Abe would not automatically have to step down if his coalition lost its majority in the upper house, and if the ruling camp fell short by a few seats it could try to woo independents or members of a tiny conservative party to keep control of the chamber.

But a big loss would mean the ruling bloc could not enact legislation, which must be approved by both houses of parliament, threatening political paralysis and sparking calls for Abe to quit or even call a snap lower house election.

Reuters>