The two letters are taken from the initials of the Japanese words kuki yomenai.

Mr Abe has incensed politicians and Japanese voters alike by refusing to step down from office despite the crushing defeat suffered by his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the July 29 Upper House election.

It was Mr Abe himself who had characterised the election as one in which voters were asked to choose who would make a better prime minister - himself or opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa.

As it turned out, the LDP won only 37 seats out of 121 seats that were contested, against 60 for Mr Ozawa's Democratic Party of Japan.

But though the nation has indicated its preference, Mr Abe says repeatedly that he will not go.

In fact, reports revealed that Mr Abe had made up his mind - even before polling closed - not to step down, irrespective of the election results.

Before voting was to close on July 29, party secretary-general Hidenao Nakagawa told the Prime Minister that it looked like he would have to resign as poll forecasts suggested the LDP would lose badly.

But Mr Abe said: 'So what if prime ministers have resigned in the past. I don't think it is a good thing for national politics.'

He added: 'Voters want a change in the people who run the country. They are not saying stop the reforms.'

Mr Abe has indicated he will reshuffle his Cabinet soon, probably later this month.

Last week, he said he would pick the ministers himself and would not accept recommendations from party faction leaders.

Mr Abe did the same thing when he took office last September but ended up with a crony Cabinet that, in just 10 months, saw four ministers replaced.

The LDP has begun to examine the reasons for the party's historic defeat, which has been blamed mainly on public outrage over the government's mismanagement of pensions and a string of ministerial scandals.

Widespread criticism of Mr Abe remains unabated.

The weekly Shukan Asahi called him Japan's worst post-war premier.

'His mother is the only person who can tell him to quit,' it quoted an analyst as saying.

One of Mr Abe's most outspoken critics is former defence chief Shigeru Ishiba, who accuses him of making a mockery of the elections.

'Now that he has turned his back on the will of the people, we can expect a backlash in the next general election,' said Mr Ishiba.

Mr Abe insists that he has to stay on to complete his mission, which is to build a 'Beautiful Japan'.

The nationalist leader's intention apparently is to revise Japan's post-war peace Constitution and sweep away other vestiges of the immediate post-war allied occupation of the country.

Although Mr Abe touted his Beautiful Japan vision in campaign speeches, it has little public support.

Voters angry about issues that hurt their wallets were in no mood to listen to such ideological talk.

Said LDP lawmaker Hiroshige Seko, who was re-elected last Sunday: 'I could hardly mention Beautiful Japan in my speeches.'

Meanwhile, Mr Abe's popularity continues to slide.

A survey by the FNN network showed that non-support for him has risen to 64.8 per cent while support is down to 22 per cent.

Mr Abe's current situation closely mirrors that of former prime minister Yoshiro Mori, who saw his popularity dip below 30 per cent in the autumn of 2000.

By April of the following year, Mr Mori had lost his job.

wengkin@sph.com.sg