Japan PM finds little scope for conservative agenda

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks to reporters during a group interview at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo, July 9, 2007.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, forced to defend yet another cabinet minister from scandal allegations, is finding little scope to pitch his core conservative agenda ahead of a national election this month.

The once-popular Abe's public support ratings have sunk to around the critical 30 percent level ahead of a July 29 poll for the upper house of parliament, hit by public ire over mismanaged pension records and doubts about his leadership abilities.

A loss in the upper house would not eject the ruling camp from government, since it retains a huge majority in the more powerful lower house, but a big loss would make it tough to enact laws and may put pressure on Abe to resign.

With social security and the economy topping voters' concerns in public opinion polls, Abe has had few moments to spare to talk about his goal of rewriting Japan's pacifist constitution, a central element of his vision for a "Beautiful Country, Japan".

In a group interview at his Liberal Democratic Party's headquarters on Monday, the embattled Abe spoke on the post-World War Two charter only when asked.

"That is in the LDP's manifesto," he said tersely, when asked if he still wanted to make revising the charter an issue with voters.

Abe, who faces his first big electoral test since taking office last September, had originally aimed to make constitutional reform a focus of the election as part of his pet project of boosting Japan's role in global security affairs.

That was before his cabinet was hit by a string of political scandals and government mishandling of millions of pension records, bungling that risks short-changing retirees.

"During the upper house election campaign, I want to first explain what I've achieved over the past nine months," Abe told reporters at the start of the interview, listing steps to reform the education system, revive local communities, take the lead in the fight against global warming and boost Japan's economy.

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But the bulk of the interview -- as with a debate with opposition leaders on Sunday -- was devoted to defending his farm minister against media allegations that he had filed false financial statements and explaining his stance on taxes.

The farm minister, Norihiko Akagi, was appointed in early June after his predecessor, who had been under fire for a series of political funding scandals, hanged himself.

"I have heard that Minister Akagi has already explained the matter in much detail," Abe told reporters, adding that he saw no need for the farm minister to present additional documents.

Abe had to replace his defense minister last week when Fumio Kyuma resigned for remarks that appeared to condone the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

He was the second minister to resign under Abe.

A weekend survey by the Asahi newspaper showed support for Abe's cabinet up slightly, but more voters still said they would vote for the main opposition Democratic Party than the LDP.

Democratic Party leader Ichiro Ozawa tried to capitalize on the scandal allegations against the farm minister, saying Akagi should clarify his financial statements.

"He's a cabinet minister, so if this happens he should make everything public and explain it, then the scandal will die down," Ozawa told a news conference.

"If he doesn't explain, it's unjustifiable."

The LDP and its junior coalition partner, the New Komeito party, need to win a total of 64 of the 121 seats up for grabs to keep their majority in the 242-seat upper house.

The New Komeito is aiming to get 13 seats.

Abe sought to play down his comments last week that were interpreted by media as hinting at a rise in the 5 percent consumption tax -- after the election.

Analysts say a tax hike may be inevitable as Japan tries to cut its huge debt and pay for rising social security costs, but politicians have considered the topic taboo ahead of elections.

"First, we will make drastic cuts in government spending," Abe said. "I think cuts are still lacking."

(Additional reporting by Elaine Lies)