Japan

Opposition wins in a landslide

Article published on the 2009-08-30 Latest update 2009-08-30 15:02 TU

Yukio Hatoyama, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, could become prime minister.
(Photo: Reuters)

In a seismic shift of the Japanese political landscape, the opposition Democratic Party won legislative elections Sunday, according to exit poll predictions, ending 54 years of almost unbroken rule for the conservatives.

The left-of-center Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) was set to win 300 or more of the 480 seats in the lower house of parliament, ousting the Liberal Democrats (LDP), who have governed Japan for all but 11 months since 1955, according to Japanese media predictions.

The vote was seen as a barometer of frustrations over Japan's worst economic slump since World War II and a loss of confidence in the ruling Liberal Democrats' ability to tackle tough problems such as the rising national debt and rapidly aging population.

The Democrats have said they will seek a more independent relationship with Washington. But Hatoyama, who holds a doctorate in engineering from Stanford University, insists he will not seek dramatic change in Japan's foreign policy, saying the U.S.-Japan alliance would "continue to be the cornerstone of Japanese diplomatic policy."

Ruling party leaders said they were devastated by the results.

"I feel deeply the impact of this vote," former Prime Minister Shintaro Abe, a leading Liberal Democratic Party member, told television network TBS. "Our party must work to return to power."

“The LDP has been part of the establishment in Japan, and this change is going to take a while to filter through,” said correspondent Robin Powell.

“There are plenty of pledges that the DPJ has made about restarting a plan to get a more green economy, about introducing child allowances, introducing free roads, which are tolled in Japan at the moment, as well as certain foreign policy changes,” Powell told RFI.

“In terms of the LDP, the way that that will change will also be huge because they may not survive if the election result is as definitive and huge as it appears to be,” he said.