JAPAN: Japanese premier vows to stay in power despite a thrashing at the polls and impending political gridlock

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed to stay in his post despite a crushing defeat for his ruling camp in an upper house election on Sunday (July 29). But policy gridlock looms and Abe's grip on his job is still uncertain. Voters, outraged at a string of government scandals and gaffes and government 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. At a news conference on Monday (July 30) Abe said the Japanese people would be listened to. "We received the people's severe judgement and we intend to accept their judgement with honesty and gravity and rectify what needs to be rectified," he said. Abe has pledged to boost Japan's global security profile, rewrite its pacifist constitution and ensure growth while pursuing economic reforms and cutting the huge public debt. "As the economy recovers, I would like to see it be a real recovery. I believe it is my duty to push this recovery to the point people actually feel it. And it's my responsibility to ensure this duty is fulfilled," he added. Abe's bloc will not be ousted from government by the upper house defeat, since it has a huge majority in the more powerful lower chamber, but he said he would reshuffle his cabinet in an effort to win back voter trust. Japan's Nikkei average hit its lowest level in nearly four months as a stronger yen weighed on exporters. However, investors picked up stocks with solid earnings results, lending support and helping the market finish flat on Monday. Investors largely brushed aside the defeat of Abe's ruling camp. The yen hit a three-month high against the euro in early trade on Monday as the sell-off in global equity and credit markets prompted investors to cut back on risky positions such as carry trades. The Japanese currency was also dented by the upper house result and the conservative leader's decision to stay in his post which could lead to a gridlock in policy. Without ruling coalition control of the upper chamber, laws will be hard to enact, threatening legislative paralysis. Analysts said the fallout from the Japanese election was negative for the yen but would take a back seat to worries about a further tumble in stocks and corporate bonds following the sell-off driven by U.S. markets last week. The soft-spoken, once-popular Abe, does still face pressure to quit from within his own Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has ruled Japan for most of the past five decades. For now, though, a lack of suitable successors in the LDP could help him survive, analysts say, though many warn that the mood in the party is that the situation is a disaster waiting to happen. "The LDP is like the Titanic. The difference is that the people on the Titanic did not know it was going to sink. But we can't get off and it's going to sink," said Gerry Curtis, Professor of Political Science at Columbia University. He was speaking at a news conference in Tokyo on Monday organised by the Foreign Correspondents Club. "There is a sense of hopelessness, helplessness among very powerful politicians. It is amazing to talk to the most senior politicians in this country in the LDP and to hear them talk about sitting on the Titanic and not being able to get rid of the captain or jump off the ship," he added. Critics say Abe is out of touch with voters concerned with bread-and-butter issues such as pensions and health care, and people on the streets of Tokyo on Monday agreed. "They should listen to the people a bit more and start over from scratch again," said Tomoyasu Yamazaki, a 42-year old Tokyo resident. Some Japanese are even looking forward to the day the ruling coalition's main party is no longer in power. "I think a two-party government is a good idea. We should let the Democratic Party try governing once, of course it's the people that will have to choose this though," said 57-year-old Kanznobu Shinbo. No lower house poll need be held until late 2009 and Abe said he was not considering calling a snap poll anytime soon for that chamber, in which his coalition has a big majority.

ITN Source | July 30, 2007

Tags:. .driven. .constitution. .vows. .vowed. .snap