The 72-day extraordinary Diet session comes to a close today with Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori clinging to power despite a series of challenges that could have ousted him from office.

Mori hopes to re-establish his influence by reshuffling his Cabinet and the top executives of the Liberal Democratic Party early next week, and LDP power brokers suggest he may stay on for several more months -- as long as he doesn't make any more blunders.

Mori survived his latest and most crucial trial last week when LDP elders used carrot-and-stick tactics to successfully crush the rebellion of Koichi Kato and his allies, making them back down from their threat to oust Mori's Cabinet by supporting a no-confidence motion submitted by the opposition camp.

Kato's failed coup left political watchers and voters with a nagging question: How much longer will Mori stay at the helm?

"(Mori) has certainly made slips of the tongue since the launch of his administration (in April), but he has made no policy mistakes," LDP Secretary General Hiromu Nonaka said recently, defending the gaffe-prone prime minister.

Mori's latest slip of the tongue came Tuesday when he voiced sympathy for Kenshiro Matsunami, a New Conservative Party lawmaker who was suspended from the legislature for 25 days after throwing water on opposition hecklers during the Lower House plenary session that debated the no-confidence motion.

"I often bear the brunt of opposition heckling and it's terrible. It's not incomprehensible to feel like throwing (water)," Mori told reporters, quickly inviting the opposition to criticize his remarks.

Some LDP officials point out that Mori makes uncalled-for remarks when he tries to pay somebody lip service, and his notoriously poor communication skills with reporters often only add fuel to the fire.

"I am amazed to see how this Cabinet has managed to hold out," admitted Nonaka, one of the LDP's behind-the-scenes deal makers. "I would have been mentally unable to overcome a similar situation if I were in (Mori's) shoes. In that way, I respect him."

During the Diet session, Mori came under heavy fire for abruptly disclosing a secret 1997 proposal the then LDP-led coalition made to Pyongyang to resolve the alleged kidnapping of Japanese by North Korean agents, when he met with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Seoul in October.

The opposition and the media blasted Mori's obvious diplomatic blunder and even questioned his qualifications to be prime minister. This was followed by the resignation of his chief Cabinet secretary and right-hand man, Hidenao Nakagawa, over his reported connections to a member of an organized crime syndicate and suspicions that he may have leaked to his mistress information that police were preparing to arrest her on drugs charges.

Media public approval polls of Mori plunged below 20 percent. Kato's open rebellion against him gave rise to growing calls from within the LDP that Mori should step down to avoid the party suffering disastrous losses in next July's Upper House election.

After he survived the Diet vote, however, open calls for his replacement appear to have subsided.

Since the ruling coalition voted down the no-confidence motion, the parties apparently lack a plausible reason to oust him for now. Observers say Mori could remain in charge until the Upper House poll -- provided he makes no more gaffes, his approval ratings stay above 10 percent and he avoids further scandals.

"I have told the prime minister to fulfill three jobs," said an influential Upper House member of the LDP, referring to the Cabinet reshuffle scheduled next week, compilation of the fiscal 2001 state budget later this month and the Jan. 6 reorganization of the bureaucracy.

The LDP official, who declined to be named, indicated that Mori, who is also president of the LDP, could lead the party's campaign for the Upper House, dismissing speculation that the LDP may move forward the party presidential election from September to spring so the unpopular leader can be replaced.

Mori's close aids admit, meanwhile, they have urged him to be more discreet and careful with his remarks.

"The prime minister's remarks will be less interesting from now on, as he will rigidly examine each and every word he uses," said a senior official at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. "And the prime minister should keep (our advice) in mind for at least half a year or until his approval ratings go above 30 percent."

Aside from the continuing instability surrounding Mori, leaders in the ruling bloc boast that they have succeeded in achieving most of their legislative goals during the Diet session, including the passage of a 4.78 trillion yen extra budget to finance the latest stimulus package.

Soon after the session opened in September, opposition lawmakers boycotted virtually all Diet proceedings for nearly three weeks to protest the ruling camp's railroading of a bill to create a new electoral system under which voters can select either an individual candidate or a party in the proportional representation segment of Upper House polls.

The prolonged stalemate led to the resignation of Upper House President Juro Saito when his attempt to mediate a compromise failed. The ruling bloc had its way and succeeded in passing the bill.

To cope with a string of serious crimes committed by teenagers, the Juvenile Law was revised, lowering the maximum age at which young offenders can be held criminally liable to 14 from 16.

The revised Police Law will toughen the government's supervision of police operations, while another law enacted during the session will ban politicians from receiving payoffs in return for wielding influence over bureaucrats. The opposition has noted that the law is rife with loopholes.

The bill to grant permanent foreign residents of Japan the right to vote in local elections, which was submitted by the LDP's coalition allies -- New Komeito and the New Conservative Party, and supported by the opposition -- was effectively squelched by the LDP, whose conservative members kept it from being put to a vote.

The bill will be carried over to the next regular Diet session, which begins in late January.

Ozato offers to resign

Sadatoshi Ozato, chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Executive Council, offered to resign Thursday in a meeting with Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, the LDP president, party sources said.

However, Mori asked him to stay on for now, they said.

Ozato, a senior member of a faction led by former LDP Secretary General Koichi Kato, is believed to have tendered his resignation to take responsibility for his absence from a vote last week on a no-confidence motion against Mori's Cabinet.

During intraparty power struggles caused by Kato's attempt to oust Mori, Ozato mediated between Kato and LDP Secretary General Hiromu Nonaka to try to end the row.

Kato finally decided not to vote in favor of the no-confidence motion submitted Nov. 20 by the opposition camp. His faction was effectively split over the motion as a result of the power struggles. Mori survived the no-confidence vote on Nov. 21.

Political sources have pointed out that in a Cabinet reshuffle expected to take place next week, the LDP leadership will treat Kato faction members who were critical of Kato's moves favorably and deny entry into the new Cabinet to other Kato faction members who skipped the vote, including Ozato.