Japan votes for change: DPJ wins by landslide

Hatoyama

The electoral drubbing sets the stage for a new coalition government led by the DPJ, replacing the 10-year-old coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito.

Meanwhile, the LDP suffered a historic defeat, losing its status as the largest force in the 480-member lower house for the first time since its inauguration in 1955.

Yukio Hatoyama, president of the 11-year-old opposition party, is certain to be named the next prime minister and form a government with two other opposition parties.

According to late unofficial election returns, the DPJ's gains not only exceeded an absolute stable majority of 269 seats, but even surpassed 300. As of 1:10am Monday, the DPJ garnered a combined 304 seats in single-seat constituencies and proportional representation races.

The LDP, led by Prime Minister Taro Aso, collected 117 seats and its coalition partner, New Komeito, 20 seats, according to early Monday tallies.

The Japanese Communist Party won eight seats, the Social Democratic Party five seats, People's New Party three seats, Your Party five seats and the New Party Nippon one seat. Six independents were declared winners.

In a televised press conference early Monday morning, Hatoyama expressed his gratitude to the public for having "the courage to opt for change in administrations".

"(The results) show the great anger felt by (voters) toward the current ruling parties. That sentiment turned into their expectations for the DPJ," he said.

Responding to a question regarding the makeup of a new government, Hatoyama said, "(The DPJ) remains unchanged in wanting to form a coalition with the SDP and PNP."

The DPJ's landslide victory has forced the LDP-Komeito alliance into a minority in the 480-seat chamber after an intense electoral fight following the chamber's dissolution on July 21.

In a TV interview late Sunday night, Aso revealed his intention to step down as LDP president, saying, "I must take responsibility (for the party's defeat)."

"By taking to heart the stern verdict given by people, the LDP must start all over from scratch. I'll join that effort as a party member."

LDP Secretary General Hiroyuki Hosoda said the party's top cadre told the prime minister that they would resign to take responsibility for the party's defeat.

Several LDP and Komeito senior leaders and heavyweights were defeated in their single-seat constituencies. They include such LDP veterans as finance minister Kaoru Yosano, former finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa and former Chief Cabinet secretary Nobutaka Machimura. Komeito leader Akihiro Ota and party Secretary General Kazuo Kitagawa also were defeated by DPJ contenders.

The principal focus of attention in Sunday's race was whether the embattled LDP-Komeito alliance would manage to stay in power by clawing out a majority in the 480-member lower house or whether the opposition camp would force them into the minority, a result that would certainly see the emergence of a DPJ-led administration shortly after the election.

A DPJ-led government would mark the first shift in power in 16 years. It would also be the first change in government to take place between two major political parties since the end of World War II. The nation has witnessed a change of government just twice as result of postwar general elections--in 1947 and 1993.

During the 12-day official election campaign, the LDP and Komeito emphasized what they called "satisfactory results" in tackling the difficult challenges facing this nation, including the fight against the worst recession in the postwar era. The ruling parties described themselves as "the only ones" that could think and act responsibly to protect people's daily lives and run the nation.

They also argued the DPJ would be incapable of taking the helm of government, criticising the main opposition party's fiscal, national security and other key policies.

Meanwhile, the DPJ stressed the need to shift power from the LDP-Komeito coalition to a DPJ-led administration if this country wants to bail itself out of various crises. The largest opposition party said the ruling parties lacked the "ability to handle the reins of government," by reminding voters that the premiership was held by three different LDP lawmakers in the past four years.

The winds of change were unmistakably clear during the election campaign. The DPJ enjoyed an extremely fair wind not only in nearly all 300 single-seat electoral districts but also in the proportional representation races in which 180 lower house members were to be elected, as indicated by various media polls predicting the party's likely victory in the races.

Despite their desperate attempt to reverse the tide by trumpeting their achievements as the ruling parties, the LDP and Komeito apparently failed to achieve their campaign goals.

Prior to the general election, both the ruling and opposition parties released policy manifestos, all of which featured measures designed to dispel voters' anxiety about their future and other issues.

The prospect of a change in government did much to increase voters' interest in the results of the electoral battle between the ruling and opposition camps, as well as in their manifestos. The extended campaign seemed to give voters sufficient time to compare specific details of the manifestos--particularly those related to family budgets, including child support allowances and free education for public high school students.

Sunday's race was contested by 1,374 candidates, for an average of 2.86 candidates for each lower house seat. The total number included 1,139 contestants vying for the 300 single-seat constituencies.

Among the 1,139 contenders were 653 "dual candidates" who ran both in that category and under the proportional representation system. A total of 235 contenders ran only in the proportional representation system.

The LDP fielded 326 candidates, including 269 running in both single-seat constituencies and proportional representation races. Its preelection strength stood at 300 seats.

Komeito ran 51 candidates, including 43 running exclusively under the proportional representation system. It held 31 seats before the election.

On the opposing side were 330 contenders running on DPJ tickets, including 268 vying in both electoral categories. The DPJ's preelection strength was 115 seats.

A total of 171 candidates ran with the backing of the JCP, which had nine seats before the election. The SDP fielded 37 candidates, the PNP 18, Your Party 15, the Japan Renaissance Party one, and New Party Nippon eight. There were a total of 347 candidates from minor parties and 70 independents.

The LDP and the DPJ went head to head in 263 of the 300 single-seat constituencies, demonstrating that Sunday's race was essentially a battle for power between the nation's two largest parties.

Sunday's election was the first lower house poll since Sept. 11, 2005, when the ruling LDP romped to a victory that reflected overwhelming support for then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's campaign to privatize postal services.

Sunday's general election came after the lower house was dissolved on July 21, with official campaigning getting under way on Aug. 18. The 40-day gap between dissolution and election day was the longest in the postwar era, beating the previous record of 36 days in the 1953 lower house election.

Most of the about 51,000 polling stations nationwide opened at 7 a.m. and closed at 8pm. Counting began immediately after the stations closed.

As of August 17, there were 104,344,170 eligible voters, including those living overseas.