Shinzō Abe Abe denied the charges, but support for his administration fell below 30% in the polls, the lowest since taking power in 2012. Those who called for him to step down included former prime minister Junichirō Koizumi. The scandal has been referred to as "Abegate". The scandals, while not damaging his political standing permanently, did little good to his image. In July 2018, Abe's public standing was further hit after he held a drinking party with LDP lawmakers during the peak of the disastrous floodings in western Japan. Abe welcomed the 2018 North Korea–United States summit. Shortly after the summit was
Shinzō Abe Communist and Social Democratic parties walked out of the vote in protest at what they said was the government's move to force the bills through without sufficient debate and ignore "responsible opposition parties". Abe countered by arguing that the bills had been debated for "as many as 113 hours" before the vote. While common practice in many other parliamentary democracies, a government using its majority to "railroad" controversial bills though the Diet in the face of political and public opposition is a subject of criticism in Japan. As a result of these moves, Abe faced a public backlash, and opinion