Global General

Special

Newsmaker

Asia Pacific

America

Middle East

Europe

Africa

Crushing defeat for Aso's party

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-31 08:02

TOKYO: Japanese voters swept the opposition to a historic victory in Sunday's election, exit polls showed, crushing the long-ruling conservative party and handing the novice Democrats the job of reviving a struggling economy.

The win by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) ends a half-century of almost unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and breaks a deadlock in parliament, ushering in a government pledging to focus spending on consumers, cut wasteful budget outlays and reduce the power of bureaucrats.

Exit polls conducted by the state broadcaster NHK Sunday showed that the DPJ, led by Yukio Hatoyama, garnered 298-329 of the 480 seats in the House of Representatives election, exceeding the 241-majority, while the ruling LDP gained 81-131 seats.

In separate exit polls conducted by Kyodo News, the DPJ is projected to win a landslide victory by securing more than 300 seats in the lower house.

Prime Minister Taro Aso Sunday conceded his party was headed for a big loss. "These results are very severe," he said. "There has been a deep dissatisfaction with our party."

Aso said he would have to accept responsibility for the results, suggesting that he would resign as party president.

"The nation is very angry with the ruling party, and we are grateful for their deep support," Hatoyama said after the polls closed. "We will not be arrogant and we will listen to the people."

The loss by the Liberal Democrats would open the way for Hatoyama to establish a new Cabinet, possibly within the next few weeks.

The DPJ is likely to form a coalition government with the Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party because it is short of an overall majority in the House of Councilors, or upper house. The results of the general election, the first in four years, are expected to be known by early today.

The LDP has dominated Japan's politics for more than half a century except for about a year in 1993-94 when it fell out of power.

"I don't like what's going on now in this country. Things have to change," said Kazuya Tsuda, a 78-year-old retired doctor in Tokyo who voted for the Democratic Party.

"This is about the end of the post-war political system in Japan," said Gerry Curtis, a Japanese expert at Columbia University.

Full Coverage  2009 Japan Election Related readings:  Japan Democrats take power, tough challenges loom  Top officials of Japan's LDP to resign  Polls: Opposition wins landslide in Japan election  Japan votes in election, opposition tipped to win  Nearly 14m vote in Japan's general election

"It marks the end of one long era, and the beginning of another one about which there is a lot of uncertainty."

Liu Jiangyong, an expert on Japan at Tsinghua University in Beijing, Sunday said: "Through talks and better communication, China and Japan will not see a worsening of ties."

Koichihaji, chief economist of NLI Research Institute in Tokyo, said: "Because hopes for change are so big, the disappointment would be huge if the Democrats can't deliver results. The first three months will be crucial."