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TOKYO - Campaigning began yesterday for a Japanese Upper House election on July 29 that could cost Prime Minister Shinzo Abe his job and usher in a period of policy stagnation if his bloc loses big.
Chances that Abe's ruling coalition will keep its majority have dimmed because of the Government's mishandling of pension records and a series of scandals and gaffes that forced three ministers from his Cabinet, two by resigning and one by suicide.
"The battle starts from here," Abe told a crowd in Tokyo's Akihabara district.
"Will it be reform or moving backwards? Will there be economic growth, or going backwards?"
The LDP and its junior partner, the New Komeito Party, need to win a total of 64 seats to keep their majority in the Upper House, where half of the 242 seats are up for grabs.
The New Komeito is aiming for 13 seats.
The Democrats are touting the poll as a step towards taking power.
"If you do not give us a majority in this election, there will be no change of government in Japan," Democratic Party leader Ichiro Ozawa told a crowd in western Japan, where he kicked off his party's campaign.
- REUTERS
