Voters cast their ballots in Osaka on Sunday morning.

Voting under way in general election with DPJ favored to end LDP rule

Sunday 30th August, 11:40 AM JST

TOKYO —

Voting in Japan’s general election was under way Sunday at polling stations nationwide, with the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan seemingly on its way to a landslide victory.

A DPJ win would mark only the second time for the Liberal Democratic Party to lose power in its almost uninterrupted rule of more than half a century over the country and is likely to usher in DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama as Japan’s new prime minister.

Called by Prime Minister Taro Aso, the 45th House of Representatives election has effectively been about a choice between the incumbent LDP-led government and a DPJ-led government.

Opinion surveys have shown the DPJ with a substantial lead over the LDP, propelled in part by voter anger over years of perceived stagnation and mismanagement under LDP rule.

A total of 1,374 candidates, including a record 229 women, are running for election to the 480-member chamber, with 300 to be elected from single-seat constituencies and 180 from 11 proportional representation blocks across Japan.

The results of the general election, the first in four years, are expected to be known by early Monday. Most of the nearly 51,000 polling stations nationwide opened at 7 a.m. and are to close at 8 p.m.

Due to strong voter interest, turnout could be higher than the previous general election, in which it reached 67.51%. As of 4 p.m., turnout came to 35.19%, up 0.25 point from the previous election, the internal affairs ministry said.

But final turnout could be affected by factors including the weather. In Tokyo, there was scattered rain in the morning, but throngs of people were seen queuing at polling stations.

A record 10.94 million people, or 10.49% of eligible voters, had already cast early ballots during a 10-day period through Friday, the ministry said.

The DPJ appears to be on track to win more than 300 seats, compared with the 115 it held before the election, according to a recent Kyodo News survey.

The LDP is projected to capture as few as just over 100 seats, a severe setback from the 300 it had before the race, with its coalition partner, the New Komeito party, likely to lose some of the 31 seats it previously held.

An LDP fall from power would be only the second since its founding in 1955. It was last out of power for 11 months between 1993 and 1994.

In Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Yuko Miyashiro, a 35-year-old aesthetician, said after casting her ballot, ‘‘The DPJ seems to be an unreliable scratch team, but I expect the LDP to go out of office anyway.’‘

Since campaigning officially began Aug 18, Aso has emphasized the priority he places on stimulus measures, saying that the economic recovery is only half finished.

He has argued against giving a popular mandate to the DPJ by accusing the party of wavering on national security matters, and says only his LDP is responsible enough to govern.

The DPJ’s Hatoyama has promised to increase support for households, saying that a DPJ-led government will ‘‘cut waste created in bureaucrat-reliant politics and reorganize the budget in such a way as to spend money on what’s really important.’‘

The DPJ plans to enter into formal talks with two smaller opposition parties—the Social Democratic Party and the People’s New Party—to form a tripartite coalition government if it wins the election and Hatoyama, 62, is put into the premiership at a special Diet session to be called by Sept. 28.

The predicted DPJ control of the lower house would likely end the legislative deadlock in parliament, which has plagued the ruling LDP-New Komeito bloc for the past two years, because the less-powerful House of Councillors is already in the hands of the opposition.

If the DPJ captures 321 seats or more in the election, it will have more freedom over setting the legislative agenda because the two-thirds majority would enable the party to pass bills rejected by the upper house on its own.

But doing so could upset the DPJ’s likely partners and possibly destabilize their would-be coalition government.

The DPJ and its likely coalition partners also differ over foreign policy and security issues, among others things. The SDP, for example, opposes the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces overseas, while the DPJ has supported it conditionally, such as when the Japan Coast Guard was deemed unable to handle an antipiracy mission off Somalia.

Campaigning effectively began July 21, when Aso, 68, dissolved the lower house. Since then, parties had pitched their policies to voters based on their campaign platforms.

The DPJ pledges to cut wasteful spending, offer cash to households and keep Japan’s 5% consumption tax intact for the next four years, the duration of the term for new lower house lawmakers.

But its big-budget policies, like the monthly child allowance to families, have been criticized as lacking specifics about sources of funding.

The party also promises to put more power into the hands of lawmakers so they can take the initiative in setting and coordinating policies and be less dependent on bureaucrats.

If it takes power, the DPJ would seek more independence from the United States, promising to propose reviewing a bilateral agreement governing the status of U.S. military personnel in Japan.

The LDP, meanwhile, pledges to focus on economic recovery for the next two years, targeting 2% economic growth in the latter half of fiscal 2010.

The party also promises to make education for preschoolers free and boost the disposable income of each household by 1 million yen in 10 years, but it remains unclear how such an increase can be achieved.

The SDP, the People’s New Party and the Japanese Communist Party aim to increase their seats from seven, four and nine, respectively, but Kyodo News has projected that they may lose some of their seats in the election.

Aso had been widely expected to call a general election soon after taking office last September, partly because two of his immediate predecessors quit after about a year in office. But as the economic downturn deepened, he vowed to focus on reviving the economy and postponed dissolving the lower house.

In the last general election in September 2005, the LDP captured an extraordinarily large 296 seats with then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi painting the race as a contest between those for his postal reform drive and those against it.

Wire reports

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Latest 15 of 35 Total Comments Show All

ptolemy at 07:14 PM JST - 30th August

Jesus H. Christ, paint me green and call me "Gumby", I agree with Nigelboy too. Never thought this moment would happen. What is my coffee?
rajakumar at 07:16 PM JST - 30th August

Next PM of Japan may be Hatoyama, looks like he is has got bigger hold of Japan.

Aso hold is slipping,as can be heard many times of JT.

Mccain lost because of power of internet,looks like all future leaders of world may lose via sway of net citizens.
rajakumar at 07:19 PM JST - 30th August

correction- Next PM of Japan,may be Hatoyama,looks like he has got bigger hold of Japan.
shufu at 07:25 PM JST - 30th August

Sarge - i totally agree ... but im in ♥ with Aso though anyways so probably not the most impartial opinion.
Youdontknow at 07:32 PM JST - 30th August

Personally I'll be glad to see the back of the LDP! I'd rather have the useless talento from NHK run the country than these money grabbing ignoramuses anymore!
Simon_Foston at 07:37 PM JST - 30th August

Honestly, how can we trust Hatoyama to lead Japan when he doesn't even know when to get a haircut?

With all due respect and without wanting to sound like I'm telling you what or what not to say, if you can't say anything more substantial or informed than that I really wish you wouldn't bother. If it was an attempt at humour, you might have noticed that no one thought it was funny enough to comment on the first time you said it, so repeating yourself is a bit pointless. But seeing as we're on the topic, would you say the same thing about your hero Dubya's great pal Koizumi? He kind of needed a haircut too, but unlike the half-wits who succeeded him, specifically Abe and Aso, he knew a thing or two about winning elections.
Sarge at 07:50 PM JST - 30th August

Simon - Check out the first post on ths thread ( it's mine ).
bcbrownboy at 07:56 PM JST - 30th August

Yep, frying pan into the fire syndrome
polarmalik at 09:41 PM JST - 30th August

Congratulations in advance Mr Yukio Hatoyama for becoming the new Prime Minister of Japan - Farakh Malik
Simon_Foston at 09:42 PM JST - 30th August

Sarge said,

Simon - Check out the first post on ths thread ( it's mine ).

I thought you might have noticed that I replied to it in my first post on this thread. You obviously had nothing to say about that and you didn't answer the question in my second post about haircuts. Nevetheless, judging by the way the exit polls are going, it looks as if hairdos are the last thing on people's minds.

Moderator: Forget about hairdos, please.
Sarge at 10:11 PM JST - 30th August

"The DPJ would seek more independence from the United States"

What, Japan is actually going to take full responsibility for its defense? About time!

Heck, except for Yoshinoya and Yanase they've already got near complete independence from U.S. beef and cars.
MASSWIPE at 10:29 PM JST - 30th August

"Yeah, and now they're useless. What's your point exactly?"

That we shouldn't forget how effective the LDP was before it became "useless". Voters in a lot of countries (especially the US&UK) tend to be ingrates who "throw the bums out" the moment they stop delivering the goods. Japanese voters, to the immense frustration of a lot of people, were willing to stick with the LDP way past the expiration date. Why? I don't know. Perhaps because they remembered the incredibly good times in Japan from 1960-90 and believed that ONLY the LDP could return Japan to that kind of glory.
Simon_Foston at 10:55 PM JST - 30th August

"Yeah, and now they're useless. What's your point exactly?"

That we shouldn't forget how effective the LDP was before it became "useless". Voters in a lot of countries (especially the US&UK) tend to be ingrates who "throw the bums out" the moment they stop delivering the goods. Japanese voters, to the immense frustration of a lot of people, were willing to stick with the LDP way past the expiration date. Why? I don't know. Perhaps because they remembered the incredibly good times in Japan from 1960-90 and believed that ONLY the LDP could return Japan to that kind of glory.

First, the LDP became useless 20-30 years ago. Second, if you had something in your kitchen that was way past its expiration date, would you eat it? Basically, I think that anyone who thought that only the LDP could return Japan to its pre-1990 glory has realised their mistake, and voted accordingly.
UnagiDon at 11:01 PM JST - 30th August

I think that anyone who thought that only the LDP could return Japan to its pre-1990 glory has realised their mistake, and voted accordingly

Well said - the LDP needs several years in the political wilderness to reform itself before it gets back any credibility, esp if the DPJ can smash the power of the bureaucracy.
Simon_Foston at 11:56 PM JST - 30th August

Well said - the LDP needs several years in the political wilderness to reform itself before it gets back any credibility, esp if the DPJ can smash the power of the bureaucracy.

Right. Every healthy political party needs at least one period in opposition to stay competitive. The LDP are long overdue theirs, but it's starting today.