Friday, July 6, 2007 3:57 am | 
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Abe on the upper house election: ‘The situation is extremely grave’
Prime Minister Abe Shinzo held a press conference in the Kantei Thursday afternoon after the diet ended its 166th regular session before the upper house elections, which will be held July 29, the Sankei Shimbun reported.
Abe said of the pension records scandal that the administration will do “everything possible to solve this problem.” The PM also showed he was aware of the graveness of the situation for the LDP, after facing several scandals, including farm minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka’s suicide and the aforementioned pension scandal. “The current situation is extremely grave.” Is the Abe Cabinet right? Or is it really true what the opposition is saying? That is the issue I hope we will be able to discuss”, Abe told the gathered reporters. “I’m certain of victory, if we can make people aware of our achievements, and how we want Japan to change.”
When asked about his own responsibility for LDP’s slumping support, Abe responded: “I do not think it’s wise to answer a question that is based on the presumption we willl lose, right before the election.”
Meanwhile, opposition leader Ozawa Ichiro (DPJ) told Sankei Shimbun the same day, “My biggest hope is that the opposition will be able to win a majority of the seats, so we can be able to change the current state of Japanese politics. If we’re unable to do that now, after all that has happened, I feel there would be no point in representing the opposition, at all,” hinting that he would resign if the DPJ were unsuccessful in the election.
See also: Upper House election campaigning sees official kick off
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[…] a major gaff, leaving the ruling Abe government in yet another mess. With only weeks to go before upcoming Upper House elections at the end of this month, some are arguing that this may be the fatal bombshell for the ruling LDP […]