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 NARASHINO, Japan (AP) - It would be a challenge for any prime minister: just months before a parliamentary election, the pension records for 50 million claims were discovered missing.
Japan's pension mess is just the kind of imbroglio that used to energize former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who bounced back from numerous scandals — including his own government's failure to pay pension premiums.
Not so Koizumi's hand-picked successor, Shinzo Abe. The premier's ratings have plummeted under a barrage of gaffes ahead of upper house elections Sunday that could weaken his government, gridlock the legislature and even knock him from power.
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