Japan PM suffers election drubbing

By Linda Sieg

TOKYO (Reuters) - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's conservative ruling camp suffered a crushing defeat in a Japanese upper house election on Sunday but the 52-year-old leader insisted he would stay in his job.

"I am determined to carry out my promises although the situation is severe," a weary and drawn-looking Abe said after acknowledging he was responsible for the huge loss.

"We need to restore the people's trust in the country and the government." Abe's second-in-command resigned and analysts said Abe would face pressure to follow suit.

Voters angry over a string of government scandals and gaffes, and government bungling of pension records, stripped Abe's coalition of its upper house majority in his first big electoral test since taking office 10 months ago.

Abe's coalition will not be ousted from government by a loss in the upper house because it has a huge majority in the more powerful lower chamber.

But without control of the upper chamber, where the main opposition Democratic Party will now have the most seats, laws will be hard to enact, threatening policy deadlock.

Kyodo news agency reported Abe would reshuffle his cabinet, possibly in late August.

"We need to discuss issues closely with the Democratic Party in the upper house and listen to them when necessary," said Abe.

Democratic Party leader Ichiro Ozawa, who has heart problems, failed to put in a public appearance, electing to rest after a tough campaign schedule.

Media said the LDP and its partner, New Komeito, won 46 seats compared to 60 for the Democrats.

The coalition needed 64 to keep their majority in the upper house where half of the 242 seats were up for grabs.

The LDP won 37 seats, media said, worse than the loss in 1998 that forced Ryutaro Hashimoto to resign as prime minister.

SENIOR RESIGNATION

The party's No.2 and its de facto campaign manager, Hidenao Nakagawa, resigned as secretary-general to take the blame for the abysmal showing.

Critics say Abe, who pledged to boost Japan's security profile, rewrite its pacifist constitution and nurture patriotism in schools, was out of touch with voters.