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Japan's PM set for electoral blow
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| Parent(s) |
Race
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| Contributor | New Jerusalem |
| Last Edited | New Jerusalem Jul 29, 2007 08:30am |
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| Category | Advertisement |
| Media | TV News - British Broadcasting Corporation BBC News |
| News Date | Sunday, July 29, 2007 02:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's conservative ruling coalition looks set to lose its majority in the upper house of parliament, exit polls suggest.
But Mr Abe said he had no intention of resigning, Japanese TV reports.
Projections suggest this is the first time in more than 50 years that the Liberal Democratic Party has failed to win the most seats in the chamber.
The LDP has been hit by a series of ministerial gaffes and scandals since Mr Abe took office in September.
"If projections are correct, we are looking at utter defeat," Hidenao Nakagawa, the LDP's secretary general told reporters, adding that he wanted Mr Abe to stay.
Half of the 242 seats in the House of Councillors were being contested.
The LDP-led ruling coalition currently controls 132 seats. It needs to win 64 of the 121 seats that are up for grabs in order to retain its majority.
But Japanese TV reports suggest the LDP has fallen far short of its target, winning between 31 and 43 seats out of the 76 it was defending.
The BBC's Chris Hogg in Tokyo says the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) is on course to become the largest party in the upper house.
It would mean a DPJ lawmaker would become president of the chamber and control its legislative agenda, making it more difficult for Mr Abe's administration to get the laws it wants to pass through parliament. |
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