Asia-Pacific

Japanese farm minister commits suicide

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-05-28 14:00

UPPER HOUSE POLL

The slide in Abe's popularity came a month after a media survey showed his support had risen following a visit to the United States for talks with President George W. Bush. It erased earlier gains attributed to a growing rapprochement with China, ties with which had frayed under his predecessor.

Abe's administration has come under fire after the Social Insurance Agency, which manages the pension system, acknowledged that data on 50 million premium payments had been mixed up.

The failure to keep track of the payments means some people are probably getting smaller pensions than they are entitled to.

Abe has said the government will try to sort out the problem.

Loss of a ruling majority in the upper house would mean key legislation could be blocked and economic reforms delayed, possibly affecting the stock market, some analysts said.

Abe's Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, the New Komeito, need to win a combined total of 64 seats out of the 121 up for grabs in the July election to keep their majority in the 242-seat upper house.

Legislative deadlock could force the prime minister to call a snap election for the lower house, analysts said, although no lower house election is required until 2009.