TOKYO (AFP) — Japan's embattled Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday refused to resign and defied calls to end a controversial military mission overseas as he faced down a resurgent opposition in parliament.
Lawmakers returned after the summer recess Monday with Abe under mounting pressure following a raft of scandals and a heavy defeat in July elections that handed the opposition control of the upper house of parliament.
On the eve of the two-month extraordinary session of the Diet, Abe staked his job on the need to extend a mandate for Japan's mission to provide support for US-led forces in Afghanistan.
Japanese troops "who are devoting themselves to their duties under the scorching sun in the Indian Ocean represent the very international contribution the world expects Japan to make," Abe later told parliament.
The opposition is against the mission, which provides refuelling and other logistical support, but the United States has warned that pulling out would damage relations between the long-standing allies.
A day after telling reporters he could quit if he fails to secure an extension of the mandate, a defiant Abe told lawmakers he would stay in his job to continue his efforts to erase the legacies of Japan's World War II defeat.
"I am well aware that there is a view that I should step down," Abe said.
"We need to depart from the postwar regime by all means. I decided to stay on out of my sheer belief that we must not stop this reform," he said.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) faces a newly empowered opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) that is doing everything it can to force Abe from office and to scupper his plans to build a more assertive foreign policy.
Abe told parliament that Japan must not abandon its "international responsibility" by withdrawing support to US-led forces in Afghanistan.
Japan's mission in the Indian Ocean has become "indispensable" for the global fight against terrorism, Abe said.
The opposition, however, remained unswayed.
"Although he (Abe) might seem as if he reflected on his past acts, he is still saying his policies were right. That's why the public is feeling, 'What is Prime Minister Abe thinking?'" said DPJ secretary general Yukio Hatoyama.
Mizuho Fukushima, head of the smaller Social Democratic Party, said the premier "does not realise the public said 'no' to Abe politics."
The Indian Ocean mission remains unpopular in opinion polls and the opposition could theoretically stall it indefinitely through its newly gained control of the upper house.
Some 55 percent of voters oppose an extension of the mission, while support for Abe's cabinet has dropped to 32 percent, down nine percent from soon after cabinet shake-up on August 27, according to a weekend poll by the NTV network.
Analysts said that Abe appeared to be using the threat to resign over the overseas mission in an effort to broker a compromise with the opposition.
"Abe's remarks on resigning sound like a bluff to me because both the ruling parties and the opposition have not prepared for a snap election for the lower house," said political analyst Eiken Itagaki.
"He seems to be seeking a sort of compromise from the opposition. But I would say it is possible that he will be soon replaced by Taro Aso," former foreign minister and LDP secretary general, he added.
Japan, which is officially pacifist, provides logistical support in the Indian Ocean for 11 countries involved in the US-led operations in Afghanistan, under legislation enacted after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US.
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