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Japan parliament extends current legislative session
LAST-MINUTE BOOST:
A 12-day extension to the legislative session is seen by some as a ploy to increase exposure before upper house elections
AP, TOKYO
Saturday, Jun 23, 2007, Page 5
Japan's parliament extended the current legislative session yesterday, officials said, giving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe time to pass legislation aimed at boosting his popularity ahead of upper house elections next month.
The extension was agreed to on Thursday by Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner, the New Komei party.
It was approved yesterday by the lower house and later accepted by the upper chamber, parliament official Yoshimi Okumura said.
The session of parliament had been scheduled to end Saturday.
The new 12-day extension is seen as giving an embattled Abe time to push through bills aimed at resolving a scandal over missing pension records.
The pension problem has been a severe blow to Abe, sending his popularity rating to new lows.
"We're determined to ensure that these bills will be passed," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said.
"It looks like the opposition parties will launch resistance, but this is a question of pursuing reform or maintaining the status quo," he said.
Extending the parliamentary session also pushes next month's upper house elections back one week to July 29.
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