Abe vows to change 'divided Diet' by winning upper house

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said here Wednesday that the ruling bloc aims to win the upper house election in July so as to change the current "divided Diet" to help accelerate economic growth under his economic policies dubbed "Abenomics." Saying at a press conference at the final day of his 150-day first Diet session since returning to power last December, Abe emphasized that overcoming Japan's prolonged deflation is "not easy" and added that he will concentrate on the "historic task" in the coming three years by ensuring political stability. To achieve political stability, the prime minister said the ruling coalition that comprised Abe's Liberal Democratic Party ( LDP) and the New Komeito Party aims to win majority in the upper house election so as to end the "divided Diet." With a landslide victory, the ruling coalition secured 325 seats in the more powerful 480-seat lower house in the general election last December and ousted the Democratic Party of Japan ( DPJ), which, however, remains the largest party in the 242-seat upper house. On Wednesday, the upper house passed a censure motion against Abe, accusing him of having skipped several parliament sessions. The nonbinding motion, which Abe called a proof of the "divided Diet," was filed by a few of small opposition parties after the prime minister and his cabinet ministers refused to attend the chamber's budget committee sessions on Monday and Tuesday. The absence was triggered by the negative attitude of the upper house towards a no-confidence motion against the speaker of the chamber submitted by the ruling bloc. Earlier the day, the upper house vetoed the LDP's motion against its president. The DPJ, which is also the largest opposition, voted for the censure motion against Abe, while the LDP and the New Komeito Party voted against it, although the censure is not expected to result in the resignation of the prime minister. Abe also told the press conference his intention to better contribute to global safety standards and export Japan's nuclear power technologies, a key stake of his growth strategy. According to a recent poll by Japan's Kyodo News across the country, 35.4 percent of respondents will focus on economic stimulus measures and 28.3 percent said they will examine social security policies in the upcoming election. The survey, to which 1,224 eligible voters responded, said that about 56.4 percent showed their support to the ruling coalition to win the majority in the upper house, with 27.9 percent saying they do not, while about 37.7 percent of the respondents said they had not decided which party to vote for. On Sunday, the ruling bloc won the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election, which was considered as a prelude of the upper house election. The coalition secured majority in the 127-seat assembly as the LDP secured 59 seats and the New Komeito Party got 23, meaning that all candidates running for the ruling coalition succeeded in the election. The DPJ only secured 15 seats, compared with 43 before the election. According to the survey, 28.8 percent of the respondents intended to vote for the ruling LDP and 6 percent supported its ally, while the DPJ only got a read of 8.2 percent.