Japan parties clash as PM's support sags before poll

TOKYO, June 29 (Reuters) Japan's ruling and opposition camps clashed in parliament today as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling camp began pushing through bills to try to revive his popularity before an upper house election just a month away.

Abe is struggling to cool voter anger over government mishandling of pension records that may be short-changing retirees, and public concern 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 percent of respondents backed his cabinet compared to 51.8 percent who did not.

That was little changed from a poll carried out on June 5-7.

More voters intended to cast ballots 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 prefectoral districts, 24 per cent opted for the opposition party against 22 per cent for the LDP, the newspaper said.

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

OPPOSITION ON OFFENSIVE Today, the upper house enacted a law aimed at tightening controls on political funds, the first of four bills the LDP and its junior coalition partner, the Buddhist-backed New Komeito, want to pass by the end of this week.

The other legislation deals with the pensions fiasco and reform of 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 wants to enact the bills now although the parliament session is due to run until July 5 because lawmakers facing re-election are eager to start their unofficial campaigns.

The upper house plenary session looked set to drag on into the early hours of Saturday to finish the job.

Some analysts, though, doubted whether rushing through the legislation would help revive Abe's support rates.

''Passing the bills will have a very limited impact on the election,'' said Toru Umemoto, a foreign exchange strategist who analyses politics at Barclays Capital.

Keen to press their attack, opposition parties submitted to the upper house non-binding censure motions against health minister Hakuo Yanagisawa and Abe, as well as a no-confidence motion against Abe's cabinet in the lower house.

As expected given the ruling camp's majorities in both chambers, the motions -- intended by the opposition to fan public anger and boost their support -- were all voted down.

Abe would not automatically have to resign if his coalition lost its upper house majority. 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 chambers. That would threaten political paralysis and spark calls for Abe to quit or even call a snap lower house election.

Reuters SKB GC2013