Leaders of opposition parties on Sunday blasted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's pledge made earlier in Sydney that he would stake his job on getting Parliament to extend Japan's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean for U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan, expressing opposition to an extension.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama told Kyodo News, 'It is like trying to solicit sympathy. He was perhaps mimicking former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi who demonstrated similar determination over privatizing postal services.'</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Hatoyama added, 'It doesn't mean much when it was said by a person who should have quit his job earlier.'</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Tadayoshi Ichida, head of the Japanese Communist Party's secretariat, said, 'It is certainly within his discretion to stake his job on the issue, but it is an expression of his desire to push through with continuing refueling no matter what happens.'</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Speaking to reporters, Ichida said, 'He should conform to the will of Parliament. In the mind of the prime minister there is nothing but cooperation with the United States out of a sense of obligation.'</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Mizuho Fukushima, leader of the Social Democratic Party, said Abe's remark 'disregards the views of the people.' On his remark that he has 'no intention of clinging to –

duties," she said, "It feels odd to hear it now when he did not say anything about it right after the defeat in the House of Councillors election" for Abe's Liberal Democratic Party.

A Kyodo News survey released on Aug. 28 showed 48.2 percent of people polled were against an extension compared with 38.6 percent in favor of it.

Hisaoki Kamei, secretary general of the People's New Party, said that Abe "should have quit under normal circumstances because of the result of the upper house election, but he stayed. He may have expressed what he felt but I am not sure if he really will resign" if an extension is not realized.

A ranking official of the DPJ said, "As there is not enough time left for maneuvering with a bill to revise the terrorism special-measures law for an extension, the government and the ruling coalition are probably thinking about pulling out the Self-Defense Forces first, thereby making the DPJ seem like the bad guy, and then coming up with a new law. The prime minister's remarks may well reflect such an intention."