TOKYO - Japanese political parties have launched de facto campaigns for next month's Upper House election which could decide the outlook for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's remaining two years in office.
At a special meeting of the Cabinet at the end of the current parliamentary session, the government decided to hold the election on July 11, with campaigning to officially start on June 24.
An unpopular government plan to reform the creaking state pension system and Japan's controversial dispatch of troops to Iraq are set to be the main campaign issues, but analysts have said the ruling camp was unlikely to lose its majority in the chamber.
Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) held a pep rally at which the prime minister and candidates chanted, pledging victory, in a traditional ritual marking the start of campaigning.
Koizumi's support rate has dipped recently due to voter dissatisfaction over his handling of the two issues, but the Opposition has troubles of its own after the resignation of its leader for missed pension payments.
Opinion polls have shown that public interest in the election is considerably lower than that in the last Upper House vote three years ago - a finding that should also favour the ruling parties, which fare well when voter turnout declines.
LDP officials have said it would aim to retain its current strength in the chamber. A poorer showing would weaken the prime minister's position in the party, where he lacks a strong support base.
Some 300 candidates are expected to run for the 121 seats being contested in the Upper House, whose 247 seats will be reduced to 242 as the result of reforms. Members serve six-year terms, with elections for half held every three years.
A contentious pension reform bill aimed at raising premiums while cutting benefits to cope with Japan's ageing society dented Koizumi's popularity slightly, and developments over Japanese troops in Iraq could further eat away at his public support.
Koizumi has said he wants to keep the troops in Iraq after the handover of power to a new interim government there on June 30, and the Cabinet is expected to decide this week that Japan will take part in a US-led multinational force.
But Japanese public opinion is split over the deployment of some 550 troops in southern Iraq, and opposition parties have denounced the decision to have the Self-Defence Forces (SDF) take part in the multinational force as violating Japan's pacifist constitution.
Recent surveys showed that a majority of the electorate opposed Japanese participation in the multinational force.
Fifty-four per cent of respondents to a survey published last Tuesday in the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper said they opposed Japan's taking part in the force, while only 33 per cent approved it.
The Mainichi poll showed that public support for Koizumi had fallen to 46 per cent - still high in comparison with past Japanese prime ministers, but down 12 points from a May survey.
(Agencies via Xinhua)
