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TOKYO - JAPANESE Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, under fire after a Cabinet minister killed himself, tried yesterday to quell another furore that has hurt his popularity ahead of a July election.
Public anger has been simmering over the mishandling of millions of pension records, a problem that could short-change retirees.
Yesterday, Mr Abe's ruling coalition moved to push through the Lower House a Bill aimed at making it easier for those who were affected to recover payments.
The government also wanted the Lower House to approve another Bill to reform the scandal-ridden Social Insurance Agency, which manages the pension system.
The slump in Mr Abe's approval ratings coincided with the suicide this week of Agriculture Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka, who had been linked to several political funding scandals.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister acknowledged the public worry of pension loss in his weekly e-mail magazine.
'My Cabinet will ensure that absolutely no one loses out on their pension payments,' he said. He added that a round-the-clock hotline would be set up to answer people's queries on their pension.
The government wants to pass the Bills before the parliamentary session ends on June 23 - about a month before the July 22 election for the Upper House.
'These two Bills are extremely important to...restore trust in the pension system,' said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki.
Opposition parties charge that the legislation is flawed.
In an effort to block the Bills' passage in the Lower House, they submitted a series of motions, including a no-confidence motion against Health Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa.
Mr Yanagisawa sparked public outrage earlier this year when he referred to women as 'birth-giving machines'.
Though the motions were rejected - Mr Abe's coalition enjoys a majority in the Lower House - the government has accused the opposition of stalling to keep public attention on the pension controversy ahead of the election.
The Health Ministry estimates that if the Bills clear Parliament, about 250,000 pensioners would be entitled to receive benefits worth an additional total of 95 billion yen (S$1.2 billion), Japanese newspapers and Kyodo news agency reported.
REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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