JAPAN: JAPANESE VOTE IN ELECTION WHICH IS LIKELY TO RETURN PRIME MINISTER KOZUMIS COALITION TO POWER
Record ID:
328697
JAPAN: JAPANESE VOTE IN ELECTION WHICH IS LIKELY TO RETURN PRIME MINISTER KOZUMIS COALITION TO POWER
- Title: JAPAN: JAPANESE VOTE IN ELECTION WHICH IS LIKELY TO RETURN PRIME MINISTER KOZUMIS COALITION TO POWER
- Date: 11th September 2005
- Summary: (BN01) TOKYO, JAPAN (SEPTEMBER 11, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. WIDE OF POLLING STATION OPENING AND JAPANESE LINE UP TO COLLECT BALLOTS 0.06 2. VARIOUS OF VOTING BOOTH AND PEOPLE VOTING 0.19 3. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE VOTING 0.34 4. TOPSHOT OF PEOPLE VOTING 0.45 5. SLV PEOPLE WALKING INTO VOTING STATION 0.54 6. SCU (SOUNDBITE)(Japanese) YOSHIE ITOH, 65 YEAR OLD HOUSEWIFE, SAYING: "I used to vote for the Democratic party as it seemed able to change the old guard, murky ways of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). But with (Prime minister Junichiro) Koizumi, things have seemed to reverse, so that is why I have voted for Koizumi." 1.10 5. SCU (SOUNDBITE)(Japanese) SHINJI TAKAHASHI, 64 YEAR OLD SELF-EMPLOYED, SAYING: "The LDP has been ruling for a long while and it has been stable. It's got its problems and to accomplish every reform is difficult in itself. But if it can do at least some of what it's promised, I think we can rely on it." 1.34 6. SCU (SOUNDBITE)(Japanese) YOSHIYUKI NAKAYAMA, 40 YEAR OLD SERVICE INDUSTRY EMPLOYEE, SAYING: "I want things to change. I want the government to step down and for the Democratic Party to take over. But that, I suppose, is a gamble." 1.46 7. WIDE OF PEOPLE VOTING 1.58 8. CLOSE OF VOTING PAPER BEING PUT INTO BALLOT BOX 2.04 10. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE IN POLLING BOOTHS 2.15 11. SLV ELECTION POSTERS ON FENCE IN STREET 2.22 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 26th September 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
- Country: Japan
- Reuters ID: LVAC79Z4QJNGPBWR8RSM1KBHN3VG
- Story Text: Japanese vote in a general election, PM looks headed
for victory.
Voting began in Japan on Sunday (September 11) as
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's coalition looked headed
for victory in an election that broke the mould in Japanese
politics and raised expectations he will win a mandate for
more economic reforms.
A handful of early birds turned up at a downtown
polling station in Tokyo at the opening at 7am (2300 GMT).
Voting will continue throughout the day until 1200 GMT.
Media had been predicting a high voter turn out, with
one newpaper survey indicating 78 percent planned to vote
on Sunday, exceeding the 59.86 percent seen in a 2003
election.
Japan has 103.4 million eligible voters, including
overseas Japanese.
Many of the people Reuters talked to leaving the
polling station early on Sunday had voted for the ruling
party even if they previously had voted against it.
"I used to vote for the Democratic party as it seemed
able to change the old guard, murky ways of the Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP). But with (Prime minister Junichiro)
Koizumi, things have seemed to reverse, so that is why I
have voted for Koizumi," Yoshie Itoh, 65.
"The LDP has been ruling for a long while and it has
been stable. Its got its problems and to accomplish every
reform is difficult in itself. But if it can do at least
some of what it's promised, I think we can rely on it,"
added Shinji Takahashi, 64.
A few supported the opposition party.
"I want things to change. I want the government to step
down and for the Democratic Party to take over. But that, I
suppose, is a gamble," said Yoshiyuki Nakayama, 40.
Koizumi needs a substantial win to ensure his fractious
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will support his reform
agenda, starting with privatising the postal system -- a
financial giant with three trillion U.S. dollars in assets
that has been criticised for funding wasteful public
projects and inflating government debt.
This wil please Washington, where he is seen as a staunch friend for
backing the U.S.-led war on Iraq, and would cheer investors
in Japanese financial markets, who want reform to stay on
track.
However, there would be scant applause in China and
South Korea after ties have chilled since Koizumi took
office in 2001 because of perceptions of rising Japanese
nationalism and regional rivalry.
Media surveys have predicted Koizumi's two-party ruling
bloc will win a comfortable or possibly overwhelming
majority, and that the LDP could even win a majority on its
own in parliament's lower house for the first time since
1990.
That would be a striking victory for Koizumi -- both
over the opposition Democratic Party, which preaches
reform, and over old guard LDP rivals who consider
distributing benefits to the hinterlands and special
interest groups to be their main job.
Koizumi, 63, a telegenic veteran with an aptitude for
punchy slogans who has a mixed record on implementing
change, called the election after LDP lawmakers helped the
opposition to defeat bills to privatise Japan Post in
parliament's upper house.
Many had expected the split in the party that has ruled
Japan for most of the past 50 years to benefit the
Democrats.
However, Koizumi's decision to strip LDP rebels of
party backing and send what media called "assassin"
candidates, including women and an Internet CEO, to
challenge the "traitors" seems to have convinced many
voters that he's serious about change.
Koizumi's populist appeal, the media strategists hired
by rival parties and the debates over policies have
contrasted sharply with past campaigns, in which TV-shy
lawmakers wooed supporters mainly with budget handouts and
other favours.
"Koizumi Theatre", as Japanese media call it, has
grabbed public attention, and voter turnout is expected to
exceed the 59.86 percent seen in the last lower house
election in 2003.
Koizumi has vowed to step down if his coalition fails
to win a combined majority, and to resubmit the bills to
privatise Japan Post if the ruling bloc holds on to power.
The LDP had 249 seats and its junior partner, the New
Komeito, had 34 before the 480-member lower house was
dissolved, against the Democrats' 175. But Koizumi refused
to put 37 rebels who voted against postal reform on the
party ticket.
Koizumi is betting a lower house victory will persuade
recalcitrant LDP lawmakers in the upper chamber to back the
bill. Several have already said they would do so if the
coalition takes a majority.
A hefty win could also prompt calls for Koizumi to stay
on after his term as LDP president ends in September 2006.
Analysts have cautioned, though, that predictions of
overwhelming victory may be overdone.
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