Japanese say PM Abe staking job on wrong battle

TOKYO, Sep 11 (Reuters) Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is girding for a showdown in parliament over naval back-up for US-led military operations in Afghanistan, but voters say they would rather he focused on pensions and healthcare.

Abe hinted at the weekend he will resign if parliament fails to pass a law continuing Japanese refuelling support in the Indian Ocean for the US-led force in Afghanistan. The support began in 2001 and its current mandate ends on November 1.

While calling off the mission might sour ties with the United States -- which has said the support is vital -- excessive focus on the issue could prove another misstep for Abe, who is often accused of being out of touch with ordinary people.

''Abe says he will stake his job on this, but there are other issues that he should stake his job on,'' said 31-year-old Keiju Kawana, an illustrator.

Japan's top government spokesman recalled the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington as he reaffirmed the ruling coalition's determination to pass the law.

''The realisation that we must resolutely fight such terrorism in cooperation with other countries was born that instant,'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Kaoru Yosano told reporters today.

''The battle against terrorism is continuing and we want to win the people's understanding for Japan to go on with the fight.'' UNPOPULAR PM An extension could be delayed by the main opposition Democratic Party and its allies, who gained control of the upper house in a July election.

Framing the two-month parliament session that began on Monday as a battle over the bill could alienate an electorate still angry over millions of mislaid pension premium payments and financial scandals in the cabinet -- issues that cost the coalition control of the upper house.

Only about 29 per cent of respondents to a poll published by the Yomiuri newspaper yesterday said they supported Abe.

That is below the 30 percent level analysts say is critical and only 1.8 percentage points higher than a month earlier, when Abe was reeling from the disastrous election result.

About 60.7 per cent of respondents to the poll, carried out at the weekend, said they did not support him. Even 15 of the 47 local chapters of his own Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) want him to quit, according to a separate poll by Jiji news agency.

The electorate is divided over extension of the Indian Ocean mission, although some analysts say support for it could grow if the media focuses on the issue.

''I don't understand what they are doing or why,'' said Daisuke Kitakura, 47, an insurance company worker.

''Is it good or bad? What do we need it for? How will it contribute in the international environment? This kind of information is completely lacking.'' INTEREST ELSEWHERE About 39 per cent of respondents to the Yomiuri poll said they oppose an extension of the naval mission, while 29 per cent support an extension. Another 29 percent were undecided.

''I personally feel no need to play up to America,'' said Takeshi Matsumoto, 36, an information technology worker. ''If we do as America does, the confrontation with terrorism will only deepen.'' Respondents to the Yomiuri poll did not list the mission among the top 14 problems they want Abe to tackle.

Almost two-thirds of respondents to the Yomiuri poll were most concerned about pensions and healthcare -- increasingly a preoccupation for the nation's ageing population. Employment, the economy and political corruption were also high on the list.

The ruling coalition could overrule upper house rejection of the refuelling bill by passing it a second time with a two-thirds majority in the lower house, but the process is time-consuming.

''He can focus the parliamentary session on the extension law, and take pensions and political corruption off the agenda,'' said political analyst Minoru Morita. ''But that way he will lose even more public confidence.

''I think Abe will be forced to resign whether or not the law passes.'' REUTERS PJ KN1155