Political fallout from security laws seen as threat to Abenomics

Tokyo

FEARS that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government could become involved in a major political crisis over controversial proposals for new security legislation helped unnerve Tokyo financial markets already rocked on Monday by the prospect of a Greek debt default and exit from the eurozone.

Approval for Mr Abe's Cabinet fell for the first time to under 50 per cent after members of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) had urged sanctions on media outlets reporting criticism of the new legislation. Analysts predicted a further slump in the government's popularity and a possible challenge to his leadership

The Nikkei-225 stock fell 2.1 per cent - much more sharply than the broad MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares which dropped by 0.8 per cent - and some dealers said that they expected the Nikkei to fall below the 20,000 mark by t…