Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe got a jolt yesterday as his
conservative ruling camp suffered a devastating, but expected,
defeat in upper house elections.
By 5:00 AM (20:00 GMT) Monday, the opposition parties and
independents, led by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), have
secured a total of 75 seats on Sunday's election in which 121 seats
were up for grabs. They will hold at least 137 seats in the
242-seats upper chamber, vote counting results showed. There is
still a seat to be decided as the vote counting continues.
The ruling bloc of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and New
Komeito party won 37 and 8 seats respectively by the same time. The
coalition will hold 105 seats at the most in the upper house,
compared with 133 before the election.
But the 52-year-old conservative said he intended to stay in his
post. "I am determined to carry out my promises although the
situation is severe," Abe said, after acknowledging he was
responsible for the drubbing.
"We need to restore the people's trust in the country and the
government," a weary Abe told reporters.
Shortly after midnight, LDP Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa
tendered his resignation to Abe, to take responsibility for the
unfavorable election results, Kyodo News said.
Abe is considering reshuffling the Cabinet and the leadership of
the ruling Liberal Democratic Party possibly in late August, Kyodo
News quoted his aides as saying early Monday.
The DPJ, winning at least 60 seats in Sunday's election, will be
the chamber's largest bloc. It would be the first time that a party
other than the LDP has seized the most seats in the chamber since
the LDP was established in 1955. The president of the upper house
will therefore be elected from the major opposition DPJ.
The Japanese Communist Party, Social Democratic Party, People's
New Party and New Party Nippon won 3, 2, 2 and 1 seats
respectively. The independents grabbed 7 seats.
Voters angry after a string of government scandals and gaffes
and the bungling of pension records stripped Abe's coalition of its
upper house majority in his first big electoral test since taking
office 10 months ago.
Abe's coalition will not be ousted from government by the loss,
though, because it has a huge majority in the more powerful lower
chamber, which elects the prime minister.
But with the DPJ on track to become the biggest party in the
chamber, laws will be hard to enact, threatening policy
deadlock.
"We need to discuss issues closely with the DPJ in the upper
house and listen to them when necessary," Abe said, after placing a
few red rosettes marking the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)'s
scarce victories on a results board at his party
headquarters.
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Critics say Abe, who pledged to boost Japan's security profile,
rewrite its pacifist constitution and nurture patriotism in
schools, was out of touch with voters.
As Japan's first leader born after World War II, Abe won early
praise for improving ties with China and the Republic of Korea that
had chilled during the five-year rule of Koizumi, his
predecessor.
(China Daily via agencies, Xinhua News Agency, July 30,
2007)
