Japan PM Abe's job at stake as Par meets

Tokyo, Sep 10: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe began the toughest battle of his political life in a parliament session that opened today after staking his job on extending Japan's naval mission in support of US-led operations in Afghanistan.

''The military personnel who are silently doing service on the scorching Indian Ocean embody Japan's international contribution sought by the world,'' Abe said in a policy speech to parliament.

''Can we really pull out now and abandon our responsibility to the international community?'' Opposition parties, which won control of parliament's upper house in a July election, are against the mission to refuel coalition ships in the Indian Ocean and could delay enactment of a bill to extend it beyond its Nov 1 expiry.

Failure to extend the mission could sour Tokyo's ties with Washington, which has made clear it sees the activities as vital.

Abe indicated yesterday he could resign if the mission were to end, prompting some to suggest the weakened leader might be seeking an honourable excuse to quit.

''I have no intention of sticking to my duties (as prime minister),'' he said told a news conference in Sydney when asked whether the cabinet would resign if the mission was halted.

Financial markets are more worried about a decline on Wall Street and a jump in the yen against the dollar, but concerns about politics remain, especially as figures on Monday showed Japan's economy contracted in the second quarter.

''Investors are concerned about the possible resignation of Prime Minister Abe,'' said a trader at a Japanese brokerage. ''But the (currency) market ... is too busy digesting factors from the United States and Europe at the moment.'' SCANDALS, GAFFES Abe, who took office a year ago vowing to boost Japan's global security profile, has been weakened by scandals and gaffes by ministers that contributed to a drubbing for his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the election and will provide fodder for opposition grilling in parliament in the coming weeks.

Some think he may now be setting the stage to resign with his head held high after a battle over diplomacy that paints the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) as irresponsible.

''It's a time-honoured Japanese tradition to prepare for an honourable exit,'' said Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Tokyo's Sophia University.

''The idea may be to make it easier to extend the support activities by putting his job at stake, but a change in the Democratic Party's stance remains very doubtful,'' Nakano said.

''Maybe he's preparing for a 'kamikaze' action without hitting the target.'' Others said Abe was trying to increase pressure on Democratic Party leader Ichiro Ozawa to compromise while avoiding a snap election for parliament's powerful lower house that the ruling camp could well lose.

''The DPJ strategy is to force a dissolution of the lower house. It could happen accidentally,'' said Toru Umemoto, a currency strategist who analyses politics for Barclays Capital.

''The Liberal Democratic Party's is the opposite -- to avoid a dissolution of parliament before the end of the year.'' CRUMBLING CABINET Abe reshuffled his cabinet late last month, only to see one of his new line-up resign a week later.

Farm minister Takehiko Endo became the fifth to exit an Abe cabinet, four through resignation and one by committing suicide, when he quit over illegal deals at a farmers' group he headed.

A spate of other ministers and LDP officials have also admitted to discrepancies in their political funding records, helping to erode a boost in support that Abe had received after tapping veteran lawmakers for his new cabinet.

TV Asahi said today support for the cabinet slipped to 31.8 from 36.6 per cent in a Sep 1-2 survey. About 60 per cent of respondents said Abe should quit by the year-end if not sooner.

Analysts said Abe's resignation could set the stage for close ally Taro Aso, hawkish Secretary-General of the LDP, to take over once a law enabling Japan's naval mission to continue was passed.

Bills rejected by the upper house can be returned to the lower house and enacted by the ruling camp's two-thirds majority in the chamber, but the rarely used process takes time.

Reuters
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