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 Shrinking support could push Abe, who took power last year
pledging to revive a stagnant economy, to softpedal his security
policies until next year's budget is enacted and a sales tax hike
from April is safely navigated, some analysts said.
Abe was quick to defend his action, but said he should have taken
more time to explain the bill carefully.
"With humility and sincerity, I must take the severe opinion from
the public as a reprimand from the people. I now look back and think
with regret that I should have spent more time to explain the bill
carefully," Abe told reporters on Monday.
"But there have been no rules on designating, releasing, and
preserving state secrets. That is where the real problem is."
Support for Abe's government fell 13.9 points to 54.6 percent in a
poll by broadcaster JNN, the lowest since he took office, although
backing for the main opposition Democratic Party rose just 0.9 point
to 6.8 percent and was dwarfed by the 30.3 percent who backed Abe's
ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
"Abe's support tends to drop when he shows his 'Abe color'," said
Nihon University professor Tomoaki Iwai. "But he knows that. I think
he will focus on the economy for a while."
A survey by news agency Kyodo showed support for Abe's cabinet fell
10.3 points to 47.6 percent, its first drop below 50 percent in a
Kyodo poll since Abe began his rare second term.
His first 2006-2007 term ended when he quit after a year marked by a
big election loss, deadlock in parliament and ill health.
REVISED OR ABOLISHED
About 82 percent of the respondents to the Kyodo poll, conducted on
Sunday and Monday, wanted the secrets act — which some critics have
likened to Japan's harsh authoritarian regime before and during
World War Two — to be revised or abolished.
"During the parliament deliberations, there were expressions of
concern such as 'Secrets will be multiplied endlessly', 'People will
be deprived of their right to know', and 'Daily life will be
threatened'," Abe said. "But such things will never, ever happen."
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Abe has said the secrecy act is vital to convince allies such as the
United States to share intelligence as he sets up a U.S.-style
National Security Council to streamline foreign and security policy.
Top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters the drop was
not unexpected. He attributed the decline to public misunderstanding
of the law's content and said the government would continue to
explain it to gain support.
The upper house of Japan's parliament late on Friday approved the
state secrets act, which toughens penalties for leaks and broadens
the definition of official secrets, despite protests by thousands of
demonstrators near parliament and criticism from a broad swathe of
media and intellectuals.
The law provides jails terms of up to 10 years for public servants
or others leaking state secrets. Journalists and others in the
private sector convicted of encouraging such leaks could get up to 5
years if they use "grossly inappropriate" means to get information.
Top officials will be able to designate special state secrets in
four categories — defense, diplomacy, counter-terrorism and
counterespionage — that can be kept secret for up to 60 years, and
in some cases, longer.
A weekend survey by the Asahi newspaper also showed Abe's support
rate falling, by three points, to 46 percent. In another poll by
public broadcaster NHK, support for Abe's cabinet dropped 10 points
from a month earlier to 50 percent.
Past governments have stretched the limits of Japan's U.S.-drafted
pacifist constitution but Abe wants to go further, including by
easing a self-imposed ban on exercising the right to collective
self-defense, or aiding an ally under attack.
(Additional reporting by Elaine Lies and Kiyoshi Takenaka;
editing
by Clarence Fernandez)
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