Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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July 30, 2007

Japan's Ruling Party Suffers Major Defeat
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=184DD89:A6F02AD83191E1600DA6EA93F640CE5F9574F7DCC14957C0 Despite loss,
Prime Minister Abe says he will not resign





Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bites his lips after learning the
return of the upper house elections at the Liberal Democratic Party
headquarters in Tokyo, 29 Jul 2007Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
is facing growing calls to quit a day after his ruling coalition
suffered a major defeat in elections for the upper house of
parliament.



Newspaper editorials Monday say Mr. Abe should consider Sunday's
election a vote of no confidence. The prime minister says he has no
plans to step down.

Preliminary official results show Mr. Abe's Liberal Democratic Party
and its junior coalition partner , the New Komeito, with 103 seats - a
loss of 30 seats - far short of the 122 needed to control the upper
house. Half of the upper house's 242 seats were contested.

Final results, which have yet to be announced, are expected to show
the main opposition Democratic Party made large gains.

Since taking office last September, Mr. Abe has been sharply
criticized for his government's mishandling of pension records, and
for a series of corruption scandals involving Cabinet members.

Mr. Abe's Liberal Democratic Party controls Japan's lower house of
parliament, which chooses the prime minister. A defeat in the upper
house will make it harder to pass legislation and could pressure LDP
members to choose a new leader.

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.


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