国际英语新闻:Spotlight: Abe reelected as Japanese PM amid calls for further probe into scandals

TOKYO, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- As the leader of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Shinzo Abe was formally reelected as the country's prime minister on Wednesday while the realigning opposition forces continued calling for breaking the Abe dominance and further probing into a couple of cronyism scandals implicating the prime minister.

Abe, who has been Japanese prime minister since December 2012, was reelected Wednesday by voting in both chambers of the Diet at a special parliamentary session, following the ruling LDP's sweeping victory in the Oct. 22 lower house election.

At a press conference following the launch of Abe's new cabinet which saw the premier retaining all his ministers, Abe reiterated his commitment to addressing Japan's population aging and low birthrate, what he had previously termed as the biggest challenges facing Japan.

He said that he would announce in early December an economic package worth 2 trillion yen (17.5 billion U.S. dollars) to bolster education and social welfare programs including free preschool education and day care services for children aged between three and five.

As for his long-term goal of revising the pacifist Constitution, Abe said there is no time schedule yet, adding that he would like to work on building a consensus with opposition forces.

As part of Abe's campaign pledge and the LDP's fundamental party platform, Abe has been pushing for the first-ever amendment to Japan's pacifist Constitution, aiming for the supreme charter to explicitly make reference to Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF).

While pro-reform forces now comprise the two-thirds majority in both houses of parliament necessary needed for an amendment to the constitution to be formally proposed, the political and publicly divisive issue will also need the majority backing in a national referendum.

Speculations have been rising that Abe is likely to kick off a referendum by the end of next year's ordinary legislative session, which usually convenes in January, according to local reports.

Abe's goal of constitutional reform, however, has been opposed by the majority of Japanese people according to previous polls, and by opposition forces that are gearing up to block the prime minister's such efforts.

Meanwhile, Abe is also expected to face further grilling by the realigning opposition parties regarding his economic policies as well as cronyism scandals implicating him at a special parliamentary session that convened on Nov. 1 and is expected to last until Dec. 9.

Yukio Edano, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), said after Abe's reelection, the number of seats in the Diet might not necessarily reflect the true minds of the people and that the CDPJ will cooperate with forces both inside and outside the Diet.

Kazuo Shii, head of the Japanese Communist Party, said the election victory of the ruling camp did not mean that the ruling camp had won trust from the people but was largely due to the problematic electoral system.

He called for finding out the truth about the scandals implicating the prime minister and Moritomo Gakuen and Kake Educational Institution and cooperation to block the prime minister's attempts to revise Article 9 of the pacifist Constitution.

Seiji Mataichi, secretary general of the Social Democratic Party, said that the prime minister has been abusing his power for his own agenda and the opposition parties should cooperate to probe into the Moritomo Gakuen and Kake Educational Institution scandals.

The ruling coalition initially proposed closing the parliamentary session on Nov. 8, allowing only for the election to formally reaffirm Abe as prime minister.

But the opposition objected to such a schedule, saying that it would allow Abe to avoid questions over the cronyism scandals that significantly brought down his support rate earlier in the year.

Abe has been under fire for his connection with nationalist private school operator Moritomo Gakuen, which purchased a piece of state-owned land in Osaka for only a fraction of the market price.

He has also been accused of using his influence to make the government choose Kake Educational Institution, run by a close friend of Abe's, to open a new department in a government-designated special economic zone.

Abe's platform of using revenue generated by the consumption tax hike for welfare policies instead of paying debt, has also raised concerns over further deterioration of Japan's fiscal health, with the nation's debt already twice the size of its gross domestic product.