Ruling party 'headed for elections victory'
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party appeared to be headed for a landslide victory in elections for the lower house of Parliament, the country's media predicted as the polls closed today.
Public broadcaster NHK and several commercial networks said exit polls indicated the Liberal Democrats had marked a major victory in the polls, easily winning a simple majority of the powerful house’s 480 seats.
Voter turnout was high, at 50% by evening, up 2.65 points from 2003 election, in part because of a dramatic campaign that broke new ground with the emergence of media-driven image politics and a sharper focus on policy.
Reform has been the catchword of nearly all parties, even though they rarely agree on its meaning.
