Report: Defeat for Japan's ruling party By HANS GREIMEL, Associated Press Writer

Report: Defeat for Japan's ruling party By HANS GREIMEL, Associated Press Writer
1 minute ago



TOKYO - Japan's ruling party suffered a major loss in parliamentary elections on Sunday, while the leading opposition party made big gains, according to exit polls broadcast by Japanese television networks.

ADVERTISEMENT

A stinging defeat for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party could cost the leader his job and trigger a period of political deadlock for the world's second-largest economy.

Up for grabs were half of the seats in the 242-member upper house of parliament. While last-minute surveys indicated Abe's party and its coalition partner the New Komei Party had been gaining ground, exit polls showed the coalition far behind the 64 seats needed to keep its majority.

According to NTV, a major commercial network, the Liberal Democratic Party — or, LDP — was set to win only 38 seats, compared with 59 for the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan. The network based its forecast on exit polls broadcast shortly after the voting ended Sunday night.

Other networks had similar projections.

Sunday's election was the biggest test yet for Abe, who took office less than a year ago as Japan's youngest prime minister amid soaring support ratings. His popularity, however, has plunged amid public outrage over millions of lost pension records and scandals that spurred two ministers to resign and another to kill himself.

"There have been scandals and you question the credibility of the Cabinet. The opposition seems to be gaining momentum. I expect they can change things," said Kaori Murata, 26, who said she cast her vote for the opposition Democratic Party of Japan.

A loss wouldn't immediately threaten the political grip of the LDP, which has ruled Japan in an almost unbroken succession of administrations since it was formed in 1955. The upper house is largely ceremonial, and the party would keep control over the lower house, which chooses the prime minister and can override most votes in the upper house.

But a big loss could put Abe under pressure to step down, possibly ushering in an era of political gridlock.

Resigning under such circumstances is rare, but not unprecedented.

In 1998, then-Prime Minster Ryutaro Hashimoto was forced to step down after the LDP won just 44 seats out of 121, and Sousuke Uno lost his job as prime minister after winning only 36 seats in 1989. Even Abe resigned as secretary-general of the party in 2004, when the Liberal Democrats won 49 seats, two short of their goal.

Party officials said last week they would keep Abe no matter what happens. But a ballot box disaster Sunday could change that. No clear successor waits in the wings, although Foreign Minister Taro Aso is seen as a possible contender.

Going into Sunday's polls, surveys showed the LDP trailing the Democratic Party. The Yomiuri newspaper predicted the LDP might hold on to only 40 of its 63 seats up for grabs, while the Democrats could walk away with 60 or more, doubling its current 31 seats.

"If you miss this greatest chance to make Japan a respectable country, Abe's coalition government ... would further destroy our lives and our country," the Democrats said in a statement.

Abe won points after taking office for mending strained diplomatic ties with South Korea and China.

But the prime minister has recently been blamed for mishandling nearly every scandal that has crossed his desk, triggering a stunning reversal of fortune for a ruling party that his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, led to a landslide in the last elections in 2005.

Things soured in December, when Administrative Reform Minister Genichiro Sata stepped down over alleged misuse of political funds. But Abe's fortunes really began to unravel in May, when his agriculture minister killed himself amid allegations he misused public funds.

Abe's government came under fire again last month, when Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma suggested the 1945 U.S. nuclear bombings of Japan were justified. Public outcry led to his speedy departure.

Now, his new agriculture minister is also embroiled in a funds scandal. Yet topping it all, Abe brushed off warnings by the opposition late last year that pension records had been lost — inaction that came back to haunt him in the spring, when the full scope of the records losses emerged. Wiped out were some 50 million claims.

The ruling party has repeatedly stressed that the Democrats are largely untested in power, while a vote for LDP candidates is a vote for continuity. The LDP is also staking claim to engineering Japan's comeback from more than a decade of economic doldrums.

___

Associated Press writer Chisaki Watanabe contributed to this report.