Japanese election

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In Japan, Abe's Party Rolls to a Landslide

Liberal Democratic Party cements its power

(Newser) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling party is headed for a landslide victory in lower house elections, according to projections released seconds after polls closed today. The projections show the ruling Liberal Democratic Party easily retaining its majority in the 475-seat lower house of parliament. Exit polls have been...

Japan PM's Party Wins Control of Parliament

Abe's LDP controls both chambers for 1st time since '07

(Newser) - Japanese broadcasters projected that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition won a majority of seats in the upper house of parliament in elections today, giving it control of both chambers for the first time in six years. The win is seen as an endorsement of Abe's economic program,...

Japan's Right Scores Election Win

Former PM Shinzo Abe likely to return to power

(Newser) - Japanese public broadcaster NHK is projecting that the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party has won a clear majority in parliamentary elections. NHK said today that its exit polls show that the conservative LDP, which ruled Japan for most of the post-World War II era, won between 275 and 300 seats...

Japan to Extend Nuclear Evacuation Zone

Continuing trouble at reactor causes public to lash out at polls

(Newser) - With radiation continuing to spew from six damaged nuclear reactors at the Fukushima plant, Japanese authorities will finally expand the evacuation zone from 12 miles to 18 miles, reports Reuters . Engineers said they were no closer to restoring the nuclear facility's cooling system, an essential step to getting the reactor...

Japan's Ruling Party Loses Majority
 Japan's 
 Ruling Party 
 Loses Majority 
EXIT POLLS SAY
Jul 11, 2010 6:41 AM CDT

Japan's Ruling Party Loses Majority

Loses grip on upper house, retains more powerful lower house

(Newser) - Japanese media are projecting that the ruling Democrats lost seats in a parliamentary election, dealing a setback to the progressive party's 10-month old government. Public broadcaster NHK predicted that the Democratic Party of Japan won less than 50 contested seats in today's upper house election, down from 54 before the...

'Princess Corps' Shakes Up Japanese Politics

New lawmakers include former sex industry reporter

(Newser) - A group of young, attractive female politicians are credited with helping the Democratic Party of Japan sweep to victory last month, but some of them are attracting more attention for their pasts than their policies. The DPJ's 26 new female members of parliament—dubbed the "Princess Corps" or "...

Hatoyama Confirmed as Japan's New PM

Shift in power marks end of 50 years of conservative rule

(Newser) - Japan's parliament formally voted in Yukio Hatoyama as the country's new prime minister today, ending an almost half-century of rule by the Liberal Democratic Party, CNN reports. The LDP's Taro Aso and his cabinet resigned en masse earlier in the day. Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan won a landslide election...

New Leader Hails Japanese 'Revolution'

Yukio Hatoyama gets to work after historic opposition victory

(Newser) - Japan's incoming prime minister hailed a democratic "revolution" as more complete results confirmed a sweeping victory for the center-left Democratic Party. Yukio Hatoyama will lead a bloc of more than 300 parliamentary members, more than three times its previous representation, after what the Times of London calls the...

Japanese Voters Head to Polls to Boot Leaders

Half century of power expected to end today

(Newser) - Japanese voters began casting ballots today in a general election expected to clean house, reports the Financial Times. The Democratic Party of Japan will almost certainly thump the Liberal Democratic Party, which has ruled the nation 11 months out of the last 54 years.

Japan Faces Historic Change as Election Opens

(Newser) - Japanese PM Taro Aso dissolved parliament today to begin a watershed election that could break his party's 50-year grip on power, Reuters reports. In a nationwide TV address, Aso apologized for his shortcomings as a leader and for internal squabbling that cost his conservative party at recent local elections. Opposition...

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