Embattled Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday refused to resign and defied calls to end a controversial military mission overseas as he faced down a resurgent opposition in parliament.
Lawmakers returned after the summer recess yesterday with Abe under mounting pressure following a raft of scandals and a heavy defeat in July elections that handed the opposition control of the upper house of parliament.
On the eve of the two-month extraordinary session of the Diet, Abe staked his job on the need to extend the mandate for Japan's mission to provide support for US-led forces in Afghanistan.
Japanese troops "who are devoting themselves to their duties under the scorching sun in the Indian Ocean represent the very international contribution the world expects Japan to make," Abe told the Diet.
The opposition is against the mission, which provides refuelling and other logistical support. The US has warned that pulling out would damage relations.
A day after telling reporters he could quit if he failed to secure an extension of the mandate, a defiant Abe told lawmakers he would stay in his job to continue his efforts to erase the legacies of Japan's defeat in World War II.
"I am well aware that there is a view that I should step down," Abe said.
"We need to depart from the postwar regime by all means. I decided to stay on out of my sheer belief that we must not stop this reform," he said.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party faces a newly empowered opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).
Abe told parliament that Japan must not abandon its "international responsibility" by ending the Afghan support.
Japan's mission in the Indian Ocean has become "indispensable" in the global fight against terrorism, Abe said.
"Although he [Abe] might seem as if he reflected on his past acts, he is still saying his policies were right. That's why the public is feeling, `What is Prime Minister Abe thinking?'" asked DPJ Secretary-General Yukio Hatoyama.
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