yvonnetan782

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's opposition flexed its political muscle Monday after a spectacular election win by demanding that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resign, opposing his support of U.S. foreign policy and promising to gain leadership of the world's second-largest economy.

But a defiant Abe clung to his job despite Sunday's humiliating loss in parliamentary elections, warning of a political vacuum if he quit and instead announcing a reshuffle of his scandal-riddled Cabinet.

"I cannot run away now," Abe told a press conference on Monday as he dismissed mounting public pressure to step down for losing the majority in parliament's upper house. "We cannot afford a political vacuum."

"Japan is in the midst of reforms that must be carried forward," he said.

Japanese voters on Sunday voiced their outrage over a series of political scandals that have hit Abe's Cabinet, stripping the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner of their majority in parliament's 242-seat body upper chamber.

The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan greatly boosted its ranks, making it the No.1 party in the upper house - heralding an era of political deadlock with the LDP, which remains in control of parliament's lower house.

The Democrats were quick to assert their newfound clout on Monday, ridiculing Abe's decision to stay on as prime minister and questioning some of his most basic policies.

"It's clear that the nation has given Mr. Abe a clear 'no.' How he can ignore that is absolutely baffling," acting DPJ chief Naoto Kan said Monday on a televised debate. He spoke on behalf of party leader Ichiro Ozawa, who was recovering from a cold.

"The public has given us a mandate," Kan said. "We will see in lower house elections which party they want in power."

The comments came after DPJ Secretary-General Yukio Hatoyama said the party would oppose extending Japan's naval mission to support U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan. The Japanese navy has provided fuel for coalition warships in the Indian Ocean since 2001, and the current mission is set to expire in November.

"We have always been fundamentally opposed to extending," Hatoyama told reporters in Tokyo. "The upper house elections have shown the country agrees, and so we will be expected to keep that line," he said.

The Indian Ocean dispatch has been part of Tokyo's recent attempts to raise its international profile. Japan also sent noncombat troops to help rebuild southern Iraq following the U.S.-led invasion.

But the DPJ has criticized both operations, saying Japan's international efforts should be channeled through the United Nations, not the United States. Some within the party also say the missions violate the nation's pacifist constitution, which prohibits the use of force in solving international disputes.

DPJ officials have also blasted Abe over a spate of scandals that have enveloped his Cabinet, including the alleged misuse of funds that has resulted in the departure of two ministers and is threatening a third, Agriculture Minister Norihiko Akagi.

Kan also demanded Monday that Abe address a pension records debacle that resulted in the loss of 50 million claims - an issue that riled the public and hurt the LDP ahead of Sunday's elections.

The defeat has come as a clear sign of Abe's tumbling fortunes and a dramatic reversal of the stellar support he enjoyed when he took over from his popular predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, less than a year ago.

Abe, 52, promised to build a "beautiful Japan," won points for mending strained diplomatic ties with South Korea and China, and pushed through a series of key bills, including guidelines to amend the country's pacifist constitution. But his honeymoon was short-lived.

By contrast, DPJ leader Ozawa, 65, a former LDP heavyweight who bolted in 1993 to set up an opposition party, appeared closer than ever toward ending the Liberal Democrats' virtually uninterrupted grip on power since their founding 1955.

Under Ozawa, the DPJ has made gains on a bold, liberal reform platform. Like the LDP, Ozawa advocates an expanded role in international peacekeeping for Japan's military, but has routinely criticized what he alleges is Abe's blind support of U.S. foreign policy - a stand that has won his party growing support.

Still, the opposition would have to prove their mandate in elections in parliament's lower house, which Abe is not required to call for another two years.

Abe rebuffed suggestions Monday that he should call snap elections for the lower chamber. Instead, he announced plans to shuffle his Cabinet and the party leadership as early as September.

Abe did not detail any changes. But LDP's No. 2 official, Secretary-General Hidenao Nakagawa, said Monday he would resign in the face of mounting losses.

Despite Abe's stand, calls for his resignation have come from within his own party. While there is no clear front-runner to replace Abe as premier, the hawkish Foreign Minister Taro Aso is often cited as a possible contender.

"By ignoring public opinion and staying on, Mr. Abe could leave the LDP itself in tatters," former LDP chief Koichi Kato told reporters Monday.

Analysts were upbeat of DPJ's prospects.

"The Democrats are on their way up and have nothing to lose," said Tsuneo Watanabe, a Tokyo-based political analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"Abe may stay on, but the party is in disarray and the damage may be irreversible," he said. "A change in leadership could be in the works for Japan."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...07-30-00-06-00