©AFP - Kazuhiro Nogi
TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government suffered a crushing election defeat Sunday but he vowed to stay in power and press ahead with his conservative agenda.
The election result raised fears of policy gridlock in the world's second largest economy, with the upper house of parliament set to be controlled by a left-of-centre opposition.
Exit polls said that Abe's Liberal Democratic Party, which has ruled Japan almost continuously since 1955, was set to suffer one of the worst drubbings in its history, meaning a rocky road ahead for the hawkish premier's agenda.
Abe assumed power last year on a mission to build a nation prouder of its past, but he has come under fire over a raft of scandals including a government agency's mismanagement of the pension system.
"When I became prime minister, I promised that I would continue reforms to build a new nation. So it is my responsibility to keep that promise," a sullen-looking Abe said in a television interview.
Some Japanese newspapers on Monday called for Abe to step down. Two left-leaning papers said Abe had to resign, while other dailies called on him to take other action such as reshuffling his scandal-plagued cabinet.
"Looking at this historic defeat, the answer by voters is clear," said the influential Asahi Shimbun, which has often sparred with Abe.
"The government failed to pass the test of credibility. This is a severe verdict worth the resignation of Prime Minister Abe," the liberal daily wrote in a frontpage column.
©AFP - Yoshikazu Tsuno
Surveys and media attributed the loss to the appearance that he neglected bread-and-butter issues, particularly after the pension agency acknowledged mismanaging millions of payments.
"People said 'no' to Abe's agenda which is focused on ideology and not on their everyday lives," the Mainichi Shimbun said.
"The prime minister's responsibility is all too obvious. For him to stay in power does not reflect the people's will."
Abe said he would press ahead with his signature policy goals, including rewriting the US-imposed pacifist constitution, and would likely reshuffle his scandal-plagued cabinet.
"I still believe that many people showed understanding for the government's basic policies," Abe said. "But there was also a lot of criticism on how the party handled things, so we have to accept that humbly."
As of midnight (1500 GMT), Abe's Liberal Democratic Party and coalition partner New Komeito held 40 seats of the 76 they were defending, with 12 undecided, according to public broadcaster NHK's projections. They needed to hold 64 to preserve their majority.
Previous prime ministers have resigned following upper house defeats that were less severe.
Analysts said that while the Liberal Democrats were worried that they did not have anyone better than Abe, it would be impossible for him to govern effectively.
"Abe is finished," said Gerald Curtis, a Japan expert at New York's Columbia University. "I think if he's smart, he'll quit tonight."
The longer he stays, "it will just be more and more chaotic politically," Curtis said.
©AFP - Kazuhiro Nogi
If Abe were to leave, it could stir memories of the revolving door politics of the 1990s, when Japan had a new prime minister nearly every year.
Foreign Minister Taro Aso has made it an open secret that he would like to succeed Abe, but critics say he shares much of the same agenda and is prone to gaffes.
Aso and other cabinet members quickly offered support for Abe. Hidenao Nakagawa, number two in the ruling party after Abe, suggested he would resign.
It would mark the first time that the main opposition Democratic Party -- formed in 1998 as an unwieldy alliance between Liberal Democrat dissidents and former socialists -- has been the largest party in one house.
But the opposition's chief Ichiro Ozawa, known as a strong-willed strategist, was not out to celebrate the victory. His party said the 65-year-old, who has a history of health problems, was suffering fatigue and would rest for a day or two.
"We realised how strong people's dissatisfaction has been," said Yukio Hatoyama, secretary general of the Democratic Party. "People have high expectations for us."
The opposition has seized on Abe's woes to try to win over traditional supporters of the Liberal Democrats, such as rural voters who feel left behind by free-market reforms.
But Abe's coalition can override any measure passed by the opposition-led upper house as it enjoys an overwhelming majority in the lower house inherited from Abe's popular predecessor Junichiro Koizumi.
Abe initially enjoyed much of the glow of Koizumi after he succeeded the veteran leader in September, but his approval ratings have since taken a nosedive.
Two ministers have quit and another committed suicide after allegations of financial wrongdoing, fuelling perceptions the young premier lacks authority.
Abe was also forced to revamp his campaign to pledge to fix the pension system after a government agency admitted it had bungled millions of payment records.
"I said 'no' to the Liberal Democratic Party. I said 'no' to Abe," Keiko Yutani, a 60-year-old language teacher, said as she cast her ballot near Tokyo's giant Tsukiji fish market.
"I'm extremely angry at Abe's cabinet," Yutani said. "I can't leave my pension funds to them."
Izuru Makihara, a professor of politics at Tohoku University, said Abe had stumbled by trying to address emotionally charged history-related issues close to his heart alongside bread-and-butter issues.
The end result was "a failure to convey a clear message to voters," he said.
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