Abe gets tearful as opposition takes upper house

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TOKYO, Aug 7 (AFP): Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was publicly urged to resign Tuesday by members of his own party as the opposition took the helm of the upper house of parliament for the first time.
Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has ruled Japan almost non-stop since 1955, lost control of the upper house last week as voters punished the LDP following a string of scandals.
The conservative premier has refused to quit, saying voters still supported his agenda despite polls showing his cabinet's approval rating has dwindled well below 30 percent.
Several LDP members publicly berated him Tuesday in an unusual break with party heavyweights, who have stood behind the premier.
LDP lawmaker Kenji Kosaka told Abe at a meeting that the election was a showdown between the premier and main opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa.
"If you put it in baseball terms, it was like a pitchers' duel and voters -- who would be the audience -- asked for a change of the pitcher who gave up a home run," the former education minister said with television cameras rolling.
"Voters did not ask for the administration to be replaced. They asked for the pitcher to change," he said.
Abe sat still and listened uneasily, his eyes shifting back and forth.
"I will work as hard as I can so people feel that my decision was not wrong," the premier later told reporters.
The LDP maintains its majority in the more powerful lower house, which was not at stake in the July 29 vote.