TOKYO, July 29: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged on Sunday to stay in power despite a crushing election defeat for his ruling coalition, saying he believed voters still backed his conservative ideas.

Mr Abe suggested he would reshuffle his cabinet but signalled he hoped to govern as normal, even though his coalition was projected to lose control of the less powerful upper house of parliament.

“When I became prime minister, I promised that I would continue reforms to build a new nation. So it is my responsibility to keep that promise,” he said in a television interview.

“I am responsible for this major loss. It is my responsibility to carry out policies and show results and to hold dialogue with the opposition,” he said.

Mr Abe took office last year on a mission to erase the legacies of World War II defeat such as the US-imposed pacifist constitution, which he pledged to have rewritten.But he has since come under fire for a raft of scandals involving top aides.

“I still believe that many people showed understanding for the government’s basic policies,” Mr Abe said.

“But there was also a lot of criticism on how the party handled things, so we have to accept that humbly.”

Exit polls said Abe’s coalition was on course to lose half of the seats it was defending in the upper house. Official results were expected later.

Mr Abe said he would consider shaking up his cabinet -- which has already seen two members resign in scandal and another commit suicide.

But he said he had no plans to call an early general election. Some ruling party leaders had suggested calling a vote for the lower house to avoid a divided parliament -- despite the possibility of losing power entirely.

Mr Abe inherited a strong majority in the lower house from his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi, which allows the coalition to override any vote by the new opposition-controlled upper house. —AFP