|
 TOKYO (AP) - Japan's scandal-plagued prime minister and his opponents launched their campaigns Thursday for a parliamentary election that could herald a period of political instability in the world's second-largest economy.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose 10-month-old government is plummeting in the polls after losing three Cabinet ministers, faces his first major electoral test in the July 29 ballot for the legislature's upper house.
Electoral defeat would not immediately threaten the ruling coalition's hold on power because it has a commanding majority in the lower house — but an embarrassing loss could prompt party leaders to force Abe from office.
|