Tokyo, Nov 09: Japan's ruling coalition is headed to take a clear majority of 252 seats in today's nationwide parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said. The comment came after early results showed the coalition would narrowly retain power in a nationwide parliamentary vote, but only against an opposition that appeared set to make big gains against Koizumi's weakened liberal democratic party.
Facing his first trial in lower house polls since taking power more than two years ago, Koizumi called the tightly contested race a test of his party's public support. All 480 seats in the more powerful chamber, including his own, were up for grabs.
Early returns appeared to dampen what the leader hoped would be a bolstered mandate for his platform of political streamlining and economic reforms.
While his coalition looked set to maintain control of the government, Koizumi's own liberal democratic party was forecast to lose the simple majority it enjoyed by itself before the election.
"We believe this is a fairly difficult battle," conceded LDP Secretary-General Shinzo Abe. "But we believe the coalition will be able to maintain its majority."
Bureau Report